Liontown: the short position through the Albemarle approach and first production
ASIC's daily aggregate for the lithium developer as Albemarle proposed a takeover in 2023 and withdrew it, and as Kathleen Valley reached first production in 2024.
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Start
4.73% (3 Jan 2023)
Peak
12.11% (14 Aug 2024)
Low
2.67% (20 Jul 2023)
End
9.87% (31 Dec 2024)
Figures are the short interest as a percentage of units on issue, from ASIC data, 506 points between 3 Jan 2023 and 31 Dec 2024.
Aggregate net short position time series for LIONTOWN LIMITED, Liontown: the short position through the Albemarle approach and first production
What the data showed
ASIC publishes the total reported short position in each ASX product every trading day, so unlike the European registers this line is close to the whole picture. It began the window at 4.73% on 3 Jan 2023, fell to a low of 2.67% on 20 Jul 2023, and rose through the following year to a peak of 12.11% on 14 Aug 2024. It ended the window at 9.87% on 31 Dec 2024.
The takeover that did not happen
In early September 2023 Albemarle raised its non-binding proposal for the company to A$3 a share, valuing it at about A$6.6 billion. On 15 October 2023 (16 October in Australia) Albemarle withdrew the proposal, citing growing complexities, after Hancock Prospecting had built a substantial shareholding. The low of 2.67% on 20 Jul 2023 sits inside the period when the approach was live, and the reported position rose after the withdrawal.
Into production
Kathleen Valley produced its first spodumene concentrate on 31 July 2024. The peak of 12.11% came on 14 Aug 2024, two weeks later, as lithium prices fell across the sector. By 31 Dec 2024 the position stood at 9.87%. Nothing here says whether any of that was right; the page records what ASIC published, and when.
Figures are as published by the ASIC; this site is not affiliated with it. The narrative describes what the published figures showed and widely reported public events around them; it is not a description of any company's prospects and is not investment advice.