4 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
JANUARY 2019
Nancy
Choi
Cassels Brock
& Blackwell LLP
Peter
Danner
Torys LLP
Philippe
Fortier
McCarthy
Tétrault LLP
Richard
Provencher
Stein Monast LLP
Marc Dagenais
Vice President,
Legal Affairs & Corporate
Secretary, Nemaska
Lithium
Nemaska Lithium is building an electrochemical
plant and spodumene mine in Québec. The closing
of a $1.1-billion financing package in May — the
largest in the global industry to date — created a big
buzz among domestic and foreign investors alike.
LEXPERT: What challenges were involved in
putting this project financing package together?
MARC DAGENAIS, Vice President, Legal Affairs
& Corporate Secretary, Nemaska Lithium:
ey were numerous, including size; com-
plexity of structure — an audacious mix of a
bought deal public offering, bond issue, pri-
vate placements and a streaming agreement;
industry, with lithium not being a traded
commodity such as gold or copper and this
project not being a mining project per se, but
rather an electrochemical plant with its own
source of raw material; and a very small inter-
nal team. In addition, Nemaska Lithium is a
single-project company having yet to gener-
ate any commercial revenue, which arguably
made the investment proposition riskier for
investors and lenders.
PHILIPPE FORTIER, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, for
Nemaska Lithium (Orion streaming agree-
ment, SoftBank private placement): e mag-
nitude of the financing required many differ-
ent sources of financings, many supported
by international investors. roughout its
financing phase, Nemaska considered many
different strategies. e ultimate financing
package resulted in a series of complex and
interrelated sources of financings for an ag-
gregate amount of $1.1 billion, comprised of
strategic investment and supply arrangement
with the Japanese conglomerate SoBank;
a streaming financing with Orion Mine
Finance; a private placement with Crown
corporation Ressources Québec; a prospec-
tus offering by way of a bought deal; and an
offering of Nordic bonds.
Nemaska Lithium's $1.1-billion financing required a 'staggering' number of agreements Interview by Ann Macaulay
Mining Complexity
ON THE DEAL
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
NEMASKA
LITHIUM
