Australian authorities prevent Chinese from buying local lithium company
[ad_1]
On Thursday, July 20, the Office of Foreign Investment Review rejected the application of the American company Austroid Corp to buy out the 90% stake in the Australian Alita Resources, which owns a lithium mine in Western Australia, which it still does not own. This was reported by local media, including The Australian.
The Australian company went bankrupt in 2019 after a global drop in lithium prices. At the same time, the Chinese company Liatam Mining expressed its readiness to buy it. She was denied for security reasons. Then the application for the acquisition of shares was submitted by Auistroid, registered in Nevada. However, in Australia, this was considered just another attempt by a Chinese company to take over a lithium mine: Austroid and Liatam are apparently associated and even have common directors. The ban also applies to the Australian division of the American company – Austroid Australia.
Recently, the authorities of many countries have expressed concern about the influence of China in the market for “critical metals” needed in a number of high-tech industries – from microchips to batteries. And the experts They saythat dependence on Chinese suppliers of “critical metals” jeopardizes many ambitious plans, in particular the plan for the transition of the EU to electric vehicles.
[ad_2]
Source link
