Tianqi Lithium is selling a 25 per cent stake in Australia’s largest lithium mine, in a $1.4bn transaction that will help the heavily indebted Chinese national champion avoid a looming default while retaining control of its most prized asset.
The lithium producer, based in southwestern Sichuan province, is facing a deadline of December 28 to restructure a $1.9bn loan with creditors led by China Citic Bank. The loan was used to fund Tianqi Lithium’s 2018 purchase of a 23 per cent stake in Sociedad Química y Minera, a Chilean rival, for $4bn.
But lithium prices have since fallen 70 per cent because of a global supply glut, pushing the company to the brink of bankruptcy.
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