Battery battle: nickel miner picks Twiggy Forrest’s ‘superio Battery battle: nickel miner picks Twiggy Forrest’s ‘superior’ offer in race with BHP
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/nickel-miner-picks-twiggy-forrest-s-superior-offer-in-race-with-bhp-20211019-p5914c.html
Battery battle: nickel miner picks Twiggy Forrest’s ‘superior’ offer in race with BHP
By Nick Toscano
October 19, 2021 — 7.01am
Billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Wyloo Metals has struck a deal to buy Canadian nickel miner Noront, raising the prospect of a bidding war with BHP as demand for electric battery raw materials intensifies.
The board of Toronto-listed Noront on Monday said it had agreed to Wyloo’s offer of C70¢ compared to BHP’s C55¢ offer in July, and would give BHP five business days to match.
Fortescue founder Andrew “Twiggy Forrest’s privately owned Wyloo Metals has upped its bid to acquire a Canadian nickel miner.
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“The Noront board of directors has determined that Wyloo Metals’ proposal represents superior value for our shareholders, compared to the offer by BHP,” Noront chief executive Alan Coutts said.
The tussle for Noront is the latest sign of mining heavyweights’ accelerating efforts to secure supplies of electric battery ingredients such as nickel and lithium ahead of an expected surge in demand from the electric vehicle revolution.
Noront has a significant claim in one of Canada’s largest potential mineral reserves, the largely undeveloped “Ring of Fire” region in northern Ontario.
Wyloo Metals, wholly owned by Dr Forrest’s investment vehicle Tattarang, said it bid to acquire all Noront’s remaining shares would “revitalise” Noront under the leadership of a world-class board of directors led by Dr Forrest as chairman.
“The Ring of Fire is a long-term mining district with a present-day value that is impossible to accurately quantify,” Wyloo Metals chief executive Luca Giocavazzi said. “Only the Wyloo Offer can provide Noront shareholders with comfort in the knowledge that they have received sufficient optionality and value for their ownership of Canada’s next great mineral hub.”
In August, BHP chief development officer Johan van Jaarsveld said the company would consider its options if a compelling offer from Wyloo materialised.
“We have the financial strength, world-class mining expertise, and commitment to work in partnership with stakeholders to advance Eagle’s Nest and the Ring of Fire, which has the potential to deliver benefits to local communities, First Nations, and Ontario for years to come,” he said.
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In August, it agreed to sell its global oil and gas division to Australia’s Woodside Petroleum, partly to free up its ability to increase spending on nickel and copper, two of its most immediate growth priorities. It has relocated its global exploration headquarters to Toronto from Santiago, Chile, and intends to nearly double its exploration spending within five years.