SLI announces US$100 Million Direct Investment from KochVANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Standard Lithium Ltd. (“
Standard Lithium” or the “
Company”) (TSXV: SLI) (NYSE: SLI) (FRA: S5L), an innovative technology and lithium project development company, today announced that Koch Strategic Platforms (“
KSP”), a subsidiary of Koch Investments Group, will make a US$100 million investment in Standard Lithium through a direct private placement to support the Company’s strategic development goals.
Key Points:
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US$100 million direct private placement (the “Direct Investment”);
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Standard Lithium to issue 13,480,083 common shares (“Common Shares”) of the Company at a price of CDN$9.43 (US$7.42) per Common Share;
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Direct Investment follows extensive due diligence into Standard Lithium’s LiSTR DLE technology, Demonstration Plant and project development objectives; and,
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Parties to explore opportunities to work with several Koch Industries subsidiaries in key areas of alignment with Standard Lithium’s project development needs (the “Strategic Opportunities”).
In addition to the new capital, the Company, along with several Koch Industries subsidiaries, are exploring Strategic Opportunities to work collaboratively in several key areas. These potentially include working with Koch Engineered Solutions (“KES”) which provides key process equipment, engineering, procurement, and construction services; as well as Koch Minerals & Trading (“KM&T”) which is involved in the trading of many of the materials that will be required by the Company in the future, as well as the lithium products it intends to produce.
The net proceeds of the US$100 million Direct Investment will be used by the Company to pursue the following objectives:
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Continue to rapidly advance the first commercial project proposed for the Lanxess facility;
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Accelerate and expand the Company’s development of the South West Arkansas Lithium Project;
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Continue to develop and commercialise modern lithium extraction and processing technologies and work collaboratively with KES businesses; and,
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Allow for strategic project expansion.
“We’re entering an important phase for Standard Lithium and we’re thrilled to be starting it with a globally recognized industrial leader like Koch Strategic Platforms as a partner” said Robert Mintak, CEO of Standard Lithium. “KSP has an impressive track record of investing in disruptive technologies and their backing is an important endorsement of the Company’s core technology, development plans and of our intent to make the Gulf Region a leading supplier of lithium resources.”
“KSP is focusing on investing in companies with strong tailwinds that are disrupting the market as we know it. We are excited to invest in Standard Lithium as they pave a path forward towards lithium production here in the U.S. This is an exciting time for energy transformation and we believe KSP’s investment in Standard Lithium can help accelerate the production of lithium resources right here at home.” said David Park, president of Koch Strategic Platforms.
Strategic Alignment with Koch Businesses
The Company expects the Direct Investment by KSP to provide for mutually beneficial alignment with several Koch Industries businesses. For example, several businesses within the KES and KM&T platforms could assist in the following ways:
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Providing key industrial technologies and process solutions for commercialisation from Koch Separation Solutions;
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Engineering and development oversight from Koch Project Solutions;
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Engineering, procurement and other construction services from the Optimized Process Designs (OPD) group; and,
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Raw material supply agreements and assistance with future lithium product off-take agreements from the KM&T group.
Terms of the Direct Investment
Under the terms of the Direct Investment, KSP will subscribe for 13,480,083 common shares of Standard Lithium at a price of CDN$9.43 (US$7.42) per share for gross proceeds to Standard Lithium of CDN$127,070,000 (US$100,000,000). All common shares issued to KSP will be subject to statutory restrictions on resale prescribed by applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Completion of the Direct Investment remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, as well as satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
MaxEn Capital Advisors, Ltd. acted as sole financial advisor to Standard Lithium on the transaction, led by Senior Managing Director, Howard Margulis, and will be entitled to receive a cash fee and share purchase warrants of Standard Lithium in consideration for services provided.