- Pierre Brondeau, CEO, chairman and president of FMC, predicts that global lithium demand will rise fivefold by 2025
- Bloomberg sees IPO as first major lithium pure play in the U.S.
- FMC plans IPO for up to 20 percent of its lithium assets, would then provide remaining shares to company investors
FMC Corporation’s (NYSE: FMC) planned 2H2018 IPO for its lithium business is being closely watched as a pure play that will help value the metal on the market (http://ibn.fm/orSh9). FMC has announced the IPO for a percentage of up to 20 percent of its lithium assets, with Pierre Brondeau, CEO, chairman and president of FMC, also serving as chairman of the new publicly listed company (http://ibn.fm/MzWXN).
Philadelphia-based FMC is a global agricultural, industrial and consumer company operating its business in two parts: FMC Agricultural Solutions and FMC Lithium. Its lithium products are used in specialty polymers, energy storage and pharmaceutical synthesis. The company’s lithium segment recorded EBITDA of $50 million in 1Q2018, a 95 percent increase from its comparable number in 1Q2017 (http://ibn.fm/iRxsB).
Bloomberg reported that the scheduled IPO would be the first U.S. IPO of a lithium pure play, making it closely watched for its valuation of the metal. Earlier this year on an earnings call, Brondeau predicted that demand for lithium will rise fivefold by 2025 (http://ibn.fm/Ue3vt). The important factor today is that the metal is used in rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles. Bloomberg added that FMC’s IPO could trigger other lithium pure play offerings by competitors.
Lithium represented about 12 percent of FMC’s total sales in 2017, totaling $347 million in revenue in 2017, a 32 percent increase from the prior year’s segment sales (http://ibn.fm/JQHVO). An article by The Motley Fool notes, “FMC’s lithium business could be a potentially attractive pure play on the ‘white oil’ that’s powering the electric vehicle revolution, but we’ll have to wait and see how shares are priced.” (http://ibn.fm/g6dIY).
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.FMC.com
