PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer Piedmont Lithium has announced plans to re-domicile from Australia to the US through a proposed scheme of arrangement.
Subject to shareholder, regulatory and court approvals, Piedmont will move its primary listing from the ASX to the Nadaq capital market, while retaining its ASX listing via chess depositary interest.
The company told shareholders on Wednesday that becoming a US company would allow Piedmont to streamline its business operations, given that all of its core assets and management team were currently in the US.
The re-domiciliation would also deliver certain additional benefits, including increased attractiveness to a broader US investor pool, improved access to lower cost debt and equity capital in the US, increased demand for Piedmont US shares owing to the company’s expected inclusion in US stock market indices, and a simplified corporate structure for potential future merger, sale or acquisition transactions.
To implement the re-domiciliation, Piedmont has entered into a scheme implementation deed with newly formed Piedmont Lithium Inc (Piedmont USA), which will become the ultimate parent company of the Piedmont group of companies, following the implementation of the scheme.
The directors of Piedmont have unanimously recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the scheme, which is also subject to several customary conditions, including Federal Court and regulatory approvals.
The company’s shareholders are expected to meet in March next year to vote on the scheme.
As part of the re-domiciliation, Piedmont has appointed US independent director Jeffrey Armstrong as independent chairperson of the board, replacing Ian Middlemas, who will resign as director.