Miner IGO gets Western Area's shareholder Wyloo support for $790M bid

Australia-based nickel and lithium miner IGO Ltd. said Wyloo Consolidated Investments, one of Western Areas’ top shareholders, has settled to vote in favor of the A$1.1 billion ($790.24 million) bid for the nickel producer.

Wyloo Consolidated, supported by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest will vote its 9.8% stake in Western Areas in favor of IGO’s bid and commit to a standstill, under which it will not deal with Western Areas’ shares other than those that are part of the scheme, the firm said in a statement.

Mr. Forrest pledged the 9.8 percent stake his private company Wyloo Consolidated holds in Western Areas to support the IGO merger on Thursday, barely three weeks after buying Western Areas stock at prices above the IGO offer price.

Additionally, IGO said that the miner and Wyloo Metals have also entered a deal to evaluate opportunities for downstream nickel processing in the country.

IGO CEO Peter Bradford said that the new deal will be 70% funded by IGO and aims to progress Australia’s relevance in the battery metals supply chain.

There have been an increasing number of agreements for nickel assets, a critical battery metal used in electric vehicles, as a part of a global effort in moving towards greener modes of transport.