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SQM expects to close Codelco lithium deal by May 31 due date

Chilean mining business SQM, the world's secondlargest lithium producer, anticipates to fulfill a. May 31 due date to complete a joint endeavor with staterun miner. Codelco, SQM's Chief Financial Officer Gerardo Illanes said on. Thursday.

Some experts had actually cautioned the deal could be postponed. after an earlier due date was extended 2 months due to. intricacies in the settlement, and flagged a prominent. dispute in between SQM and shareholder Tianqi Lithium. as a risk.

There's no particular sticking point, it's just that it is. a complicated transaction, Illanes said in a call with analysts. to talk about first-quarter outcomes, when asked if there was a. last barrier. He kept in mind that work was still in development to. manage a variety of information.

The offer would offer Codelco a 50% plus one share stake. in a SQM's lithium production in Chile's Salar de Atacama, as. the federal government seeks to improve its function in the market that. provides a key metal for electrical automobile batteries.

When asked if SQM was preparing for possible legal. action from China-based Tianqi, which holds about a 22% stake in. the company, Illanes stated SQM was following the actions detailed. by Chile's monetary regulator to finalize the offer.

We're not preparing for anything else, as the procedure. should go as the regulator advised, he said, without. directly addressing Tianqi.

Tianqi has actually called for a shareholders' vote to authorize the. offer, which SQM states is subject just to a vote by the board of. directors.

Once the agreements are prepared, the board will fulfill, will. evaluate the information of the contract, and will take a choice,. Illanes said.

(source: Reuters)