Merdeka Battery Materials puts $1.28bn price on nickel smelter plan

JAKARTA -- Indonesian nickel producer Merdeka Battery Materials, which is affiliated with Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), on Thursday said a smelter it is planning will cost an initial estimated $1.28 billion and be partly funded by proceeds from its ongoing initial public offering that could raise up to $580 million.

Merdeka Battery, a subsidiary of Merdeka Copper Gold of which CATL is a minority shareholder, is in the bookbuilding process for its IPO through next Tuesday, and is hoping to raise up to 8.745 trillion rupiah ($580 million) from it. Merdeka will release 11 billion shares to the public, representing 10.24% of the company at an offer price of between 780 rupiah and 795 rupiah per share.