- Piedmont Lithium (PLL) plans to relocate from Australia to the U.S. through a scheme of arrangement
- The lithium developer will move its primary listing from the ASX to the Nasdaq but will remain listed on the ASX via chess depositary interests (CDIs)
- While it plans to maintain a strong Australian presence, Piedmont wants to streamline its business as most of its management team and assets are U.S.-based
- Re-domiciling to the U.S. will also open the company up to a broader investor pool who previously couldn’t invest in non-U.S. securities
- Further, the U.S. Federal Government has recognised lithium as being a critical material, which positions Piedmont as an integral part of the nation’s supply chain
- The scheme is subject to shareholder approval and shareholders will have the chance to vote in March next year
- Piedmont’s shares are down 1.37 per cent this morning and are trading at 36 cents
Piedmont Lithium (PLL) is set to move its primary listing from the ASX to the Nasdaq through a scheme of arrangement.
This comes as Piedmont announces its intention to re-domicile from Australia to the U.S. as long as it receives shareholder, regulatory and court approvals.
The scheme has been entered into with a newly-formed namesake Delaware company, Piedmont Lithium, which will become the parent company of Piedmont’s group of companies once the scheme has been implemented.
While the lithium company will be primarily listed on the Nasdaq, it will retain an ASX listing via CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs).
Holders of Piedmont shares may receive one CDI in Piedmont USA for each ordinary share held in Piedmont on the record date of the scheme. Holders of Piedmont American Depositary Shares (ADSs) will be entitled to receive one share of common stock in Piedmont USA for each ADS held on the record date.
Piedmont President and CEO, Keith D. Phillips, reiterated the company will maintain its presence in Australia.
“We will of course maintain a strong presence in the Australian market via a continued ASX listing, reflecting the strong support we have received from Australian institutional and individual shareholders over the past several years,” Keith said.
Piedmont believes becoming a U.S. company will allow it to streamline its business operations given most of its core assets and management team are based in the U.S. already.
On top of this, re-domiciling to the U.S. will open the company up to a broader investor pool who previously couldn’t invest in non-U.S. securities. It will lead to greater access to lower-cost debt and equity capital, a simplified corporate structure for potential mergers, sales or acquisitions, and higher demand for shares due to Piedmont’s expected inclusion in U.S. stock market indices such as Russell 2000 and the S&P Total Market.
“I’m very pleased that Piedmont will become a U.S. corporation, reflecting the location of our core assets and management team, and joining industry leaders Albemarle and Livent as the only America domiciled and listed lithium company,” Keith stated.
Significantly, the U.S. Federal Government has recognised lithium as being a critical material — positioning Piedmont as an integral part of the nation’s supply chain.
As part of the re-domiciliation, Piedmont has appointed U.S. Independent Director, Jeffrey Armstrong, as Independent Chairman. He will replace Ian Middlemas who is resigning from his Director role.
Shareholders will be able to vote on the scheme at a meeting to be held in March 2021. If approved, the scheme will be implemented in March next year.
Piedmont shares are down 1.37 per cent and trading at 36 cents at 11:07 am AEDT.