Wesfarmers has made a bid for another miner with a $776 million proposal for lithium developer Kidman Resources.
The Kidman board has backed Wesfarmers' offer of $1.90 cash per share, which represents a premium of 47.3 per cent to the price before the start of trade on Thursday.
Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott said the planned acquisition of Kidman - which comes after a $1.5 billion offer for rare earths miner Lynas Corp - would be an attractive investment that will benefit from the global uptake of electric cars.
Kidman has a 50 per cent stake in the Mt Holland lithium project - which includes a mine, a concentrator and a refinery - that is expected to start production in 2022 in Western Australia.
Kidman shares soared 42.64 per cent to $1.84 at 1120 AEST on Thursday while Wesfarmers shares dipped 0.22 per cent to $35.71.
Share
