AMERICAN Ocean Minerals (AOM), a deep-sea mining company chaired by former Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese, has agreed an all-stock merger with Odyssey Marine Exploration in a deal valuing the combined entity at $1bn, said Reuters on Wednesday.
The transaction will bring together Odyssey’s assets — including an investment in privately held Ocean Minerals and its Cook Islands exploration licence — with those of CIC Limited, which Albanese also chairs and holds a separate Cook Islands licence. Roughly 30% of Odyssey’s existing shareholders have already backed the deal, which is expected to close by August, the newswire said. The merged group will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker AOMC.
AOM aims to extract polymetallic nodules from the Pacific seabed, with deposits composed of cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese, and potentially rare earths and titanium. The company plans to use third-party refining capacity, though it may eventually build a US refinery.
The deal includes $150m from institutional investors via a private placement and $75m in pre-public financing. Citigroup and Cantor Fitzgerald arranged the placement. Cantor Fitzgerald is chaired by Brandon Lutnick, son of US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. Emmy-winning television presenter Mike Rowe is among the investors.
No deep-sea mining has yet taken place due to regulatory and diplomatic hurdles. AOM has applied to the US government for two international licences in the Pacific’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone, bypassing the UN-backed International Seabed Authority, whose mining regulations remain unfinished.
Odyssey Marine shares rose 88% to $1.57 on Wednesday.
