Lithium Royalty raised C$150-million Canada’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) in 10 months, tapping investor appetite for a slice of the booming battery metals industry.
The Toronto-based company sold 8.82-million shares for C$17 apiece in its IPO, within its targeted range of C$16 to C$19. This would be the biggest IPO on a Canadian exchange since last May, when Bausch + Lomb Corp. was spun off in a dual listing and Dream Residential Real Estate Investment Trust went public.
The sale, which confirms an earlier report by Bloomberg, brings another lithium-based company to the Toronto Stock Exchange when the appetite for battery metals is soaring on strong prospects for electric vehicles. The company, which was founded by Waratah Capital Advisors in 2018, will trade under the stock symbol LIRC.
The company has a diversified portfolio of royalties for lithium projects around the world, including in Canada, Australia and the US. Among them is the flagship project of Australian miner Core Lithium, which counts Tesla Inc. as a future customer, and the Brazilian mine of Sigma Lithium.
The sale was led by by Canaccord Genuity Group and Citigroup. The investment banks that arranged the deal have an option for an additional 1.3-million shares after the close.