The Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU) share price is trading lower on Wednesday.
In morning trade, the mineral sands company's shares were down as much as 7% to $9.01.
The Iluka share price has recovered a touch since then but remains down 4% to $9.34 at the time of writing.
Why is the Iluka share price falling?
The good news is that today's weakness in the Iluka share price isn't due to a bad update or a broker downgrade.
Iluka's shares are falling today because the company has completed the demerger of its rutile business into a separate listed entity – Sierra Rutile Holdings Limited (ASX: SRX).
Management launched the demerger in response to the evolution of Iluka and the shift of its strategic priorities towards its core Australian critical minerals business.
Following a review, the Iluka board determined that a separation of Sierra Rutile by way of demerger is the optimal pathway for the business to achieve its growth objectives, reach its potential, and maximise value for Iluka shareholders.
It believes the demerger of Sierra Rutile will allow Iluka to focus its capital and management attention on its core Australian assets and development opportunities, particularly at Eneabba where the company is developing a fully integrated rare earths refinery.
As for Sierra Rutile, the demerger provides it and its shareholders with a clear focus on maximising returns from the company's existing operations and developing the globally significant Sembehun Project.
Eligible Iluka shareholders will now receive 1 Sierra Rutile share for every Iluka share they owned at the record date. They commence trading on a deferred settlement basis today, with normal trading due to commence on 5 August.
At the last count, there were 568.8 million Iluka shares on issue, which means there are now the same number of Sierra Rutile shares. Based on this and the current Sierra Rutile share price of 43 cents, the demerged business has a market capitalisation of ~$250 million.
