Major miners have been returning to acquisitions but with caution, given poorly timed and ill-conceived deals during the last commodities boom that left companies and shareholders to deal with painful writedowns. Rio has been even more tentative than its heavyweight peers like BHP Group, which made an offer for Anglo American Plc earlier this year. Rebuffed, BHP eventually walked away.
Rio Tinto Group has agreed to buy Arcadium Lithium Plc in an all-cash deal valuing the US-listed miner at US$6.7 billion ($8.74 billion), expanding its grip on the battery metal and stepping back into the M&A fray with its biggest deal in 17 years.
Rio will pay US$5.85 per Arcadium share, a 90% premium to the target’s closing price on Oct 4 — before Rio first confirmed that it had made an approach. Arcadium jumped as much as 31% to US$5.56 in early New York trading on Wednesday.
