Nutrien, Tianqi Ink SQM Deal
Nutrien Ltd. and Tianqi Lithium Corp. said May 17 that they have signed an agreement, whereby Tianqi Lithium has agreed to purchase 62,556,568 “A shares” of SQM Inc. held by Nutrien for consideration of $65 per share in cash. The announced transaction represents the entirety of Nutrien’s “A shares” at a gross valuation of approximately US$4.07 billion.
Nutrien still retains ownership of 20,166,319 SQM “B shares” and expects to divest these shares in due course.
Nutrien’s sale of its SQM holdings was required by the Competition Commission of India and Ministry of Commerce in China in providing their clearance for the merger of Agrium and PotashCorp which formed Nutrien. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and Tianqi Lithium shareholder approval, and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.