The Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) share price surged by 7.8% shortly after the market open on Wednesday upon news that the company's proposed merger with Livent Corp (NYSE: LTHM) has cleared the final regulatory hurdle.
The Australian Foreign Investment Review Board has given formal approval for the proposed merger of the United States lithium giant and Allkem to form Arcadium Lithium.
The Allkem share price hit $9.29 in early trading before settling back to $9.19 at the time of writing.
Here are some further details.
Allkem share price soars as all regulatory approvals cleared
In a statement, Allkem said the merger has now received antitrust and competition approvals in Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, and the US.
It also has foreign investment approval in the United Kingdom, the US, and now, Australia.
The company said: "This represents all competition and foreign investment approvals that are expected to be required prior to completion."
Allkem and Livent are targeting a closing date of 4 January for their merger.
What's left now is the Allkem and Livent shareholders' votes and an Australian court's approval of the scheme.
The Scheme Booklet is being sent to shareholders today.
The Allkem shareholders' vote will take place on 19 December.
Allkem released a presentation on the benefits of the merger at the UBS Conference on Monday.
As we recently reported, Bell Potter thinks Arcadium Lithium will become a top-three global lithium producer. The broker has a buy rating on Allkem with a share price target of $18.45.
