Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) shares are having a decent session on Thursday.
At the time of writing, the lithium miner's shares are up 2.5% to $9.51.
Why are Allkem shares pushing higher?
Investors have been buying the company's shares today after its proposed merger with Livent Corp (NYSE: LTHM) took a big step forward.
Yesterday afternoon, the company revealed that the Federal Court of Australia has approved the convening of a scheme meeting and the dispatch of the scheme booklet.
Allkem has since followed this up with an announcement this morning advising that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has registered the notice of meeting and explanatory statement in relation to the proposed scheme of arrangement.
The release also reveals that the independent expert's report, which has been prepared by Kroll Australia, concludes that the scheme is in the best interests of Allkem shareholders. This is in the absence of a superior proposal.
Furthermore, Allkem's directors continue to unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the scheme. Once again, this is subject to no superior proposal and the independent expert continuing to conclude that it is in the best interest of shareholders.
What's next?
The scheme meeting will be held in Western Australia next month on 19 December.
If everything goes to plan, the scheme will then before effective on 21 December. After which, it will be implemented on 4 January.
Once everything is complete, shareholders will receive shares in the merged entity, which will be known as Arcadium Lithium.
As covered here, Bell Potter estimates that Arcadium Lithium will be a top-three global lithium producer following the completion of the merger. It has a buy rating and a $18.45 price target on its shares.
