Shareholders in Lithium Power International (ASX:LPI) will know by Monday whether the company has secured its expected deal with the Chilean state-owned copper giant, Codelco.
LPI informed the ASX on Thursday, in a trading halt request announcement, that news of a possible deal with Codelco could be revealed before Monday.
Analysts anticipate that LPI shareholders may receive a conditional offer of 50 cents per share from Codelco. However, LPI has stated that this information is ‘incorrect.’
On Thursday, LPI requested the suspension of its shares until Monday to allow ongoing talks with Codelco to progress. This request came after the shares surged by 18% to 42 cents in trading up to just after 1 pm.
This surge valued LPI at over $260 million. A 50 cents per share offer would value the company at more than $350 million.
LPI owns the Maricunga lithium brine project in Chile, which a study in early 2022 suggested could produce 15,200 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year for two decades at a development cost of approximately $1 billion.
Codelco gained access to due diligence on LPI’s books in late September, with the intention of gathering enough information to make an offer.