Aussie Conglomerate Reiterates Lynas Offer Says Could Ease Conditions

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Lynas has been locked in a dispute with Putrajaya over the disposal of waste at its processing plant in Kuantan. (Bernama pic)PERTH: Australia’s Wesfarmers Ltd said today it is still interested in acquiring Lynas Corp Ltd and could table a less conditional bid for the only major producer of rare earth elements outside China
An initial offer of A$1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) by the retail-to-chemicals conglomerate was previously rebuffed by Lynas’ board, which termed the deal “highly conditional”
“Wesfarmers remains open to engage with the Lynas board on our proposal, with a view to progressing a less conditional proposal,” managing director Rob Scott said in a statement
Wesfarmers’ initial bid was subject to a range of conditions, including that Lynas has relevant operating licences in Malaysia for a “satisfactory period” following the close of the deal
Lynas, which has a US$800 million processing facility in Malaysia, is in a dispute with Putrajaya, which has told it to remove years of accumulated waste at its processing plant in Kuantan in order to have its licence renewed
Yesterday, Lynas Corp said it is considering initial ore processing near its Australian mine
The statement came after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said last week that companies interested in acquiring Lynas had pledged to decontaminate low-level radioactivity from mined ore before shipping it to the country
Wesfarmers said today that it saw Lynas’s announcements as positive progress towards satisfactory licence certainty
“Wesfarmers expects that detailed licence conditions will be communicated in due course by the Malaysian government. This will allow a detailed assessment of the costs and timeline to address the licence conditions,” it said. - FMT

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