Rockwood Secures Lithium Deal

Rockwood Holdings has acquired a 49% interest in the Australian lithium mining firm Talison Lithium. The deal gives Rockwood, which is focused on lithium chemicals since selling off ceramics, clay, and titanium dioxide businesses, a foothold in the Chinese lithium market. Last year Rockwood offered to pay $730 million for Talison, a major supplier of lithium to China for batteries used in consumer electronics and cars. But Rockwood lost out to Chinese lithium products maker Chengdu Tianqi Industry, which bought Talison earlier this year for $848 million. Now Rockwood has agreed to pay Tianqi $196 million for 49% of Talison, to be operated as a joint venture with Tianqi. The deal also calls for Rockwood to loan $670 million to the joint venture to help Tianqi pay off debt. As part of the deal, Rockwood gave Tianqi a three-year option to buy up to 30% of its European lithium operations.