Lithium Americas Completes US$225 Million Convertible Senior Notes Offering

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC) (NYSE: LAC) (“Lithium Americas” or the “Company”) today announced the closing of its previously announced offering of US$225,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 1.75% convertible senior notes due 2027 (the “Notes” and the “Offering”).

The Company has used a portion of the net proceeds from the Offering to repay in full its US$205 million senior secured credit facility. The Company intends to use the remainder of the net proceeds from the Offering to repay other indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.

The initial purchasers under the Offering were Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Clarksons Platou Securities AS, which acted as joint book-running managers, BMO Capital Markets Corp., Canaccord Genuity LLC and TD Securities Inc., which acted as passive book-running managers, and B. Riley Securities, Inc., Cormark Securities Inc., Cowen and Company, LLC, National Bank Financial Inc., Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Industrial Alliance Securities Inc., and Tuohy Brothers Investment Research Inc., which acted as co-managers (collectively, the “Initial Purchasers”).

The Company has granted the Initial Purchasers an over-allotment option (the “Over-Allotment Option”) to purchase up to an additional US$33,750,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes, exercisable in whole or in part at any time until 30 days after the pricing of the Offering, which occurred on December 1, 2021. If the Over-Allotment Option is exercised in full, the Offering size will increase to US$258,750,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes.

The Notes are unsecured and will accrue interest payable semi-annually in arrears at a rate of 1.75% per annum on January 15 and July 15 of each year, beginning on July 15, 2022. Prior to October 15, 2026, the Notes will be convertible at the option of the holders during certain periods, upon satisfaction of certain conditions. Thereafter, the Notes will be convertible at any time until the close of business on the business day immediately preceding the maturity date. Upon conversion, the Notes may be settled, at the Company’s election, in common shares of the Company (the “Shares”), cash or a combination thereof. The initial conversion rate for the Notes will be 21.2307 Shares per US$1,000 principal amount of Notes, equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately US$47.10 per Share. The initial conversion price of the Notes represents a premium of approximately 35% to the last reported sale price of the Shares on the New York Stock Exchange on December 1, 2021.