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Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) said Wednesday it agreed to call an extraordinary shareholder meeting at the request of Tianqi Lithium, its second largest shareholder, which seeks greater clarity over a proposed deal with Chilean state-owned copper giant Codelco.
The scheduled April 24 meeting – the second such meeting in as many months – will see Tianqi pushing for a vote on any tie-up with Codelco.
While SQM (SQM) said it will provide an update on negotiations and answer questions, the company reiterated the agreement only requires board approval.
At stake is a deal that would allow SQM (SQM) to raise lithium production; if it is scrapped, the capital may need to wind down mining operations when its current contract expires in 2030.
China’s Tianqi, which has coped with restrictions to SQM’s (SQM) most sensitive information since buying its stake in 2018, says it has received insufficient information on the deal.