Media Release: Clayton Utz acts as Australian counsel to Tianqi Lithium on US$1.7bn IPO and listing in Hong Kong

Perth partners Brett Cohen and Liz Humphry led the firm's multi-disciplinary team, which included special counsel Armin Fazely and lawyer Luke Crofts.

The share sale was oversubscribed, with cornerstone investors including South Korean diversified chemical company, LG Chem, and state-owned China Aviation Lithium Battery Co.

Congratulating Tianqi on its IPO milestone, Brett and Liz said: "This is a significant achievement for Tianqi, and we're pleased to have been involved in helping them bring this second listing to market. The response reflects the strong global demand for lithium, which continues unabated."

This is the latest transaction on which Tianqi has engaged Clayton Utz, with Brett, Liz and Armin also leading a team in advising on Tianqi's entry into a lithium joint venture with ASX-listed nickel and copper miner IGO Limited in respect of Tianqi’s Australian lithium operations. That deal, which completed in July 2021, was one of the largest energy and resource deals in Australia last year.

Tianqi's Australian operations, located in Western Australia

Operations comprise the Greenbushes lithium concentrate mining operations and the Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide Plant, Australia's first fully automated lithium hydroxide processing plant. The Kwinana plant delivered its first batch of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in May this year, with electrified transport and energy storage systems fuelling a demand boom for the metal.