Atlantic Lithium shares jumped on Wednesday as the Ghana-focused miner said they had rejected two takeover approaches by their largest shareholder.
Atlantic Lithium Limited has rejected a conditional and non-binding offer from its major shareholder Assore International Holdings Limited to acquire all shares in the company not already owned by Assore, the African-focused lithium exploration and development company announced Wednesday.
Atlantic Lithium shares were 23% higher in early trade.
Assore proposed acquiring the shares at an offer price of £0.33 per share (A$0.63), but an independent board committee established by Atlantic Lithium to review the approach determined the offer undervalued the company and was not in the best interests of shareholders.
The rejected offer follows a prior approach from Assore in October at an identical £0.33 per share price that was also turned down by Atlantic Lithium.
Atlantic Lithium said the rejected offers did not properly value the company’s status as a near-term lithium producer in Ghana, its pending investment from the Minerals Income Investment Fund, and the positive outlook for lithium project developers.