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China's Tianqi appeals Chile ruling on SQM-Codelco lithium offer

Chinese lithium miner Tianqi has appealed a judgment by Chilean financial regulator CMF that investor approval is not required to continue with a significant tieup set to increase state control over the nation's lithium sector, it said on Saturday.

Tianqi has repeatedly called for the planned partnership in between state miner Codelco and SQM , the world's No. 2 lithium producer, to be put to a. shareholders' vote. Tianqi owns about a fifth of SQM.

The collaboration would approve SQM the capability to extract. lithium in the treasured Atacama salt flat through 2060, while. providing Codelco, the copper miner, a significant role in the lithium. industry in Chile, the world's second-biggest supplier of the. key battery metal after Australia.

The Chinese firm said in a statement it had actually made an official. demand to Santiago's Court of Appeals. It asked that the CMF. judgment be suspended until a last resolution is reached, an. action that might halt the deal from progressing.

SQM and Codelco anticipated that last regulatory approvals. will be available in the very first few months of 2025 and plan to start the. partnership the exact same year.

The CMF ruling we are appealing represents not simply one. specific case, but indicates negative influences for future. operations, Tianqi said, including it would continue to take all. legal steps essential to safeguard its interests.

The events surrounding the Codelco-SQM offer sets a significant. precedent of terrific gravity that has throughout the procedure. exposed an absence of the most minimal openness standards and. respect for the rights of minority investors, it included.

The SQM-Codelco offer was finalized in May and Tianqi had. until Saturday to submit the appeal.

CMF made the judgment in June, stating the choice was not. proper for an investor vote and must rather be. solved by SQM's board of directors.

Though companies have actually rushed for control over the metal. utilized to build batteries sustaining electric vehicles, prices that. increased quickly through 2022 have since slumped over a supply glut. and weaker-than-expected demand.

(source: Reuters)