Rockwood Holdings Still Hoping for Talison Takeover

Mineweb reported that Rockwood Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ROC), whose plan to buy Talison Lithium Ltd. (TSX:TLH) was derailed by Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group Co. Ltd. late last year, has not yet reallocated the funds it had planned to use for the purchase. Further, it has no plans to do so until Chengdu Tianqi’s deal is a “sure thing.”

As quoted in the market news:

On Tuesday, Rockwood Chairman and CEO Seifi Ghasemi said as much in answer to analyst questions during a conference call.

While Ghasemi didn’t commit to going after Talison were his rival’s financing to fall through, he made it very clear Talison was still very much in its sights and, by extension, that he wasn’t completely convinced Chengdu Tianqi would necessarily pull off the Talison takeover.

Ghasemi first said that Rockwood would hold onto its cash until “Talison is sold to somebody else.”

He later added, “That seems to be a prudent thing to do, just in case.”

Just in case, of course, Chengdu Tianqi can’t get a financing done to underpin its $847 million Talison offer.

Click here to read the full Mineweb report.