By Salini Krishnan
Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt has received Australian foreign investment clearance for its proposed US$210 million acquisition of Atlantic Lithium, removing a key condition to the scheme of arrangement covering the developer of Ghana’s Ewoyaa lithium project.
Atlantic Lithium said the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board approval means the Commonwealth Government has no objection to the transaction under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975. The approval satisfies the FIRB condition precedent included in the scheme implementation deed signed by the companies in May.
The transaction is not yet complete. It still requires further regulatory approvals, a vote by Atlantic Lithium shareholders and approval from the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
FIRB approval removes a key deal condition
Huayou, one of China’s largest battery-materials producers, agreed to acquire all issued shares in Atlantic Lithium through an Australian scheme of arrangement.
Under the terms announced in the scheme implementation deed lodged with the ASX, shareholders would receive US$0.25486 per Atlantic Lithium share, equivalent to about A$0.354 per share at the exchange rate used in the transaction documents.
The all-cash offer values Atlantic Lithium at approximately US$210 million. The original transaction announcement said the offer represented a 26.6% premium to Atlantic Lithium’s last closing price and a 21.8% premium to its 30-day volume-weighted average price.
Atlantic Lithium confirmed the FIRB decision in a regulatory announcement dated Sept. 17.
The approval is significant because the buyer is a Chinese company acquiring an Australian-listed group with a major lithium development asset in Ghana. Foreign investment review has become an increasingly important part of mining M&A deals in 2026 as governments scrutinize ownership of battery minerals and other strategic resources.
Spodumene pegmatite drill core undergoing geological review.
Ewoyaa is the strategic asset
Atlantic Lithium’s principal asset is the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana’s Central Region. The company is targeting Ewoyaa as Ghana’s first lithium-producing mine.
The project is based on spodumene-bearing pegmatite deposits, the same broad type of hard-rock mineralization that supplies much of the seaborne lithium concentrate market. Atlantic Lithium has described Ewoyaa as its flagship development project and holds additional exploration tenure in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
According to company disclosures, Ghana’s Parliament ratified the Ewoyaa mining lease in March. The project also has an Environmental Protection Authority permit and a mine operating permit, although construction and production still depend on financing, development decisions, regulatory compliance and execution.
For Huayou, the acquisition would add an African hard-rock lithium project to an existing business spanning lithium, nickel, cobalt, refining, precursor materials and cathode production. The transaction therefore gives Huayou potential upstream exposure that fits its broader battery-materials supply chain.
Huayou Chairman and President Chen Hongliang said in the original transaction announcement that Ewoyaa would complement the company’s existing battery-metal operations in Africa.
Shareholder vote and court approval remain
Atlantic Lithium’s board continues to unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the scheme, subject to there being no superior proposal and an independent expert continuing to conclude that the transaction is in shareholders’ best interests.
The company’s directors have also indicated that they intend to vote their shares in favour of the deal under those conditions. Atlantic Lithium’s largest shareholder, Assore, which holds approximately 26.4% of the company, previously indicated its intention to support the transaction, subject to the same qualifications.
The remaining process includes:
| Transaction stage | Current position |
|---|---|
| FIRB approval | Received |
| Scheme booklet | Targeted for October |
| Shareholder meeting | Expected in November |
| Supreme Court of Western Australia | Approval still required |
| Implementation | Targeted for December |
| Other approvals | Still required in relevant jurisdictions |
The shareholder resolution must meet the statutory voting thresholds under Australia’s Corporations Act. The Supreme Court of Western Australia must then approve the scheme before it can become effective.
The transaction documents also identify other potential conditions, including approvals or clearances involving Ghanaian authorities, Chinese regulators and the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority. A private ruling from the Ghana Revenue Authority and steps relating to Atlantic Lithium’s Ghanaian subsidiary are also included in the scheme conditions.
The precise status of each condition will be set out in the scheme booklet when it is released.
The timetable is indicative
Atlantic Lithium expects to distribute the scheme booklet in October, subject to court processes and regulatory review. The document will include the independent expert’s report, the board’s recommendation and information shareholders will need before voting.
The shareholder meeting is expected to take place in November. If shareholders approve the transaction and the other conditions are satisfied or waived where permitted, the parties are targeting implementation in December.
The timetable remains subject to court availability, regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of all conditions. Any delay in the scheme booklet, shareholder meeting or court hearing could move the expected completion date.
For operators and investors tracking the transaction, the next material disclosures are likely to be the first court hearing, registration and dispatch of the scheme booklet, publication of the independent expert’s conclusion and confirmation of the shareholder meeting date.
Hard-rock lithium processing infrastructure and ore handling equipment.
What the deal says about the lithium market
The transaction comes against a difficult backdrop for lithium developers. Lithium prices have been volatile, and the lithium price forecast 2026 remains highly sensitive to electric-vehicle demand, battery-storage growth, conversion capacity, inventories and the pace at which new projects reach production.
That volatility was one of the factors Atlantic Lithium cited when recommending a sale rather than continuing to finance and develop Ewoyaa independently. A takeover by a battery-materials producer can provide a development path that a junior company may struggle to fund alone.
The deal also illustrates how strategic buyers are approaching lithium assets. Rather than acquiring only a producing mine, Huayou is seeking control of a project that still carries construction, financing and commissioning risk. In return, the buyer gains the opportunity to align upstream supply with its downstream materials platform.
For Ghana, the transaction could bring a deeper-capital owner into a project positioned as the country’s first lithium mine. The potential benefits include construction activity, employment, contracting opportunities, government revenue and a new position in the global battery-materials supply chain. Those outcomes remain dependent on the project reaching a final development decision and then achieving production.
Short investor take
The Cramer-style read, without a buy or sell call: FIRB approval is a meaningful de-risking step, but it is not a closing announcement. The transaction now moves into the more visible phase: shareholder scrutiny, court approval and remaining cross-border clearances.
The strategic logic is clear: Huayou gets a potential African lithium feedstock source, while Atlantic Lithium gains access to a buyer with greater battery-materials scale. The risks are also clear: lithium-price volatility, permitting and construction execution, Ghana-related regulatory conditions and the possibility of timetable slippage.
Investors assessing the deal should focus less on the headline premium and more on the scheme booklet, the independent expert’s valuation, the remaining conditions and Huayou’s stated development plans for Ewoyaa.
What to watch next
The key milestones for mining investors and operators are:
- Publication of the scheme booklet in October.
- The independent expert’s assessment of whether the scheme is in shareholders’ best interests.
- The first court hearing and confirmation of the shareholder meeting.
- Any updates on Ghanaian, Chinese or regional competition approvals.
- The shareholder vote expected in November.
- The Supreme Court of Western Australia’s consideration of the scheme.
- Confirmation of whether implementation can proceed in December.
Until those steps are completed, Atlantic Lithium remains an independently listed company and the proposed acquisition remains conditional.
The FIRB decision nevertheless marks progress for one of the more closely watched mining M&A deals in 2026, linking Chinese battery-materials capital, Australian corporate regulation and Ghana’s emerging lithium industry.
Western Australian legal and regulatory review remains part of the transaction process.
Social snippet
LinkedIn/X: Huayou Cobalt has received FIRB approval for its proposed US$210 million acquisition of Atlantic Lithium, clearing a key condition for the Ewoyaa lithium project deal. Shareholder approval, further regulatory clearances and Supreme Court of Western Australia approval remain outstanding, with completion targeted for December. #Lithium #MiningMA #MiningNews
