Piedmont Lithium and Sayona Mining welcome Superior Court approval for North American Lithium acquisition

Piedmont Lithium Inc. (ASX:PLL) (NASDAQ:PLL) and Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:DMNXF) are one step closer to finalising their North American Lithium (NAL) acquisition after securing Superior Court of Québec approval. The two companies have submitted a joint bid for the lithium production operations via subsidiary Sayona Québec, which is 25%-owned by Piedmont. If the acquisition proceeds, Sayona will refurbish NAL’s facilities and integrate the target’s operation with its own flagship Authier Lithium Project to form the Abitbi lithium hub. The Superior Court’s approval covers both the purchase and sale transactions contemplated in the share purchase agreement and the pre-closing reorganisation steps needed to implement the NAL buy. “A pivotal point” Welcoming the court’s decision, Sayona managing director, Brett Lynch said: “This is a pivotal point for not only ourselves and our bid partner Piedmont Lithium, but also Québecand its future as a leading player in the clean energy industry of the 21st century.   “We look forward to executing our turnaround plan in integrating NAL with our flagship Authier Lithium Project to transform the operation and create a world-scale Abitbi lithium hub, advancing our plans for downstream processing in Québec. “I would like to thank our teams in Québec and Australia, our partner Piedmont Lithium and our shareholders, who have supported us throughout the bidding process for NAL and have helped realise this opportunity.  “It has been a long journey, yet we have now reached a major milestone towards our evolution into a leading integrated producer in North America.”  Proposed transaction If the buy goes ahead, Sayona Québec will acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of NAL, which will keep substantially all its assets. Anticipating the transaction’s progress, Sayona has outlined the value of the joint bid and the equity that will be paid once the transaction goes through: Table indicates the costs and value associated with the proposed NAL transaction. This means the deal’s total cash consideration stands at around C$94 million — subject, of course, to final adjustments when the deal closes. Both parties anticipate the transaction will finalise in 2021’s third quarter, as long as a series of conditions outlined in a share purchase agreement and assignment agreement are met.