Glencore moves to acquire Li-Cycle

Glencore has according to Reuters expressed its interest in initiating discussions with Li-Cycle and its other stakeholders to acquire the recycling company. The Switzerland-based mining company has sent a letter to Li-Cycle's board saying it like to commence discussions with Li-Cycle and it's other stakeholders regarding a potential transaction as soon as possible.

Li-Cycle, which in 2021 was valued to over $1.6 billion has currently a market cap hovering around $10M-$15M. Its board has now formed a special committee to assess Glencore’s letter and the proposed acquisition.

CES wrote already last year about a Glencore take-over as the most likely solution. The company is in many ways in control of the company's downstream channels and has basically solely financed the recycler which still hasn't filed its full year results from 2024. With Li-Cycle, Glencore increases its pre-processing footprint significantly with facilities in Arizona, Alabama and Germany. The black mass produced in these facilities can then be further processed at Glencore's subsidiary Agmet in Ohio before nickel and cobalt can be recovered through the mining giant's operations in Sudbury in Ontario, Canada and Kristiansand in Norway. An acquisition may of course also give Li-Cycle the financial stability it require to use the conditional loan of $475M from the US Department of Energy it has been approved for, enabling the continued build-out of a hydrometallurgical facility in Rochester, New York, and a repurposing to MHP production.