Albemarle To Acquire Chinese Lithium Converter Guangxi Tianyuan For $200 Mln

(RTTNews) - Albemarle Corp. (ALB), a specialty chemicals company mainly focused in lithium, bromine and catalysts, announced Thursday an agreement to acquire China's Guangxi Tianyuan New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. for approximately $200 million.

Under the deal, Albemarle Lithium UK Limited will buy Tianyuan, a lithium converter located in Guangxi, China.

The purchase price is subject to certain adjustments. Albemarle expects the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, to close in early 2022.

The operations of Tianyuan, which was founded in 2017, include a recently constructed lithium processing plant strategically positioned near the Port of Qinzhou in Guangxi.

The plant has designed annual conversion capacity of up to 25,000 metric tons LCE and is capable of producing battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. It currently is in the commissioning stage and is expected to begin commercial production in the first half of 2022.

Kent Masters, Albemarle CEO, noted that the acquisition aligns with the company's strategy to pursue profitable growth in line with customer demand.