Lithium Americas Plunges After Shares Sold at Steep Discount

(Bloomberg) -- Lithium Americas Corp.’s stock plunged the most on record after agreeing to sell 55 million shares at a deep discount.

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Shares of the lithium explorer fell as much as 27% to $4.82 as of 9:31 a.m. in New York, its lowest price since the end of February.

Lithium Americas raised $275 million after agreeing to sell shares for $5 apiece, the Vancouver-based firm said in a Thursday statement. The offering was at a 25% discount to Wednesday’s closing price.

Lithium Americas intends to use the proceeds to advance construction and development of its Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada. The mine is considered one of the most promising opportunities in the US to produce lithium, the battery metal key to electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines.

The Biden administration offered a $2.26 billion loan to Lithium Americas in March to help finance construction of a lithium carbonate processing plant next to Thacker Pass. The US has been ramping up efforts to wean itself off its dependence on China for battery metals and the EV supply chain.

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