Rinehart joins forces with lithium giant SQM in $1.7b Azure bid
Gina Rinehart has landed her first big partnership in lithium by joining forces with Chilean giant Sociedad Quimica y Minera to launch a knockout $1.7 billion bid for explorer Azure Minerals. Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and SQM have locked up more than 60 per cent of the stock after their improved 50-50 bid, pitched at $3.70 a share up from $3.52, won the support of at least two other major shareholders: billionaire prospector Mark Creasy and Delphi Group. Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources can opt to sell into the Rinehart-SQM takeover, or resist giving up what is currently a 13.5 per cent stake. Mr Ellison said in November that he wanted a big piece of Azure’s Andover project; MinRes declined to reveal its intentions on Tuesday. The Hancock-SQM scheme of arrangement is contingent on no other player acquiring or increasing its holding in Azure to more than 15 per cent.