The market may be sinking again today but the same cannot be said for the Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price.
In morning trade, the lithium developer's shares are up 9% to $3.03.
This means its shares have now surpassed the price that Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) has offered as part of its non-binding takeover proposal.
Earlier this week, lithium giant Albemarle made an offer to acquire all of Liontown's shares for $3 in cash per share via a scheme of arrangement. This was up from a previous offer of $2.50 per share and values Liontown at $6.6 billion.
Management granted Albemarle due diligence access and revealed that it would be willing to accept the offer if it became binding.
What's going on with the Liontown share price?
Today's gain by the Liontown share price is highly unusual.
Firstly, when a takeover offer is made, a company's share price will usually rise but to a level that is at a reasonable discount to the offer price. And as the certainty of the transaction increases, the discount will begin to narrow.
Albemarle has already stated that this is its final and best offer and Liontown's management has indicated its willingness to accept it. So, as things stand, there's no reason to believe that Albemarle's $3.00 per share offer will increase.
However, it did state that the offer is its best and final proposal "in the absence of a superior proposal."
Could today's gain by the Liontown share price be an indication that a superior proposal is on its way? Right now, that would be speculation, but it does look like something is brewing. Particularly given the volume of shares being traded. At the time of writing, 63 million Liontown shares have changed hands today. That's four times greater than yesterday's total volume.
The good news is that we shouldn't have to wait long to find out if something is happening. With Albemarle currently conducting its due diligence, any would-be suitors would have to come forward quickly.
