Chengdu Tianqi to effect an intercorporate transfer of shares of Talison Lithium

TORONTO, Dec. 24, 2012 /CNW/ - Chengdu Tianqi Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. ("Tianqi"), Windfield Holdings Pty Ltd ("Windfield"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tianqi and Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries, Inc., another subsidiary of Tianqi that is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "002466" ("Tianqi Lithium", and together with Tianqi and Windfield, the "Tianqi Group"), today announced that they have agreed to effect an inter-corporate reorganization (the "Reorganization") pursuant to which Windfield will transfer all of the ordinary shares ("Shares") of Talison Lithium Limited ("Talison") held by them to Tianqi Lithium.  Completion of the Reorganization is subject to applicable Chinese and Australian regulatory approvals.

Upon completion of the Reorganization, the Tianqi Group will continue to own or control 22,878,033 Shares, or 19.99% of the issued and outstanding Shares (calculated on a non-diluted basis and based on 114,390,171 Shares issued and outstanding, based on the share registry provided by Talison).  In the event that Windfield's proposed acquisition of Talison is completed, pursuant to the terms of the agreement entered into in connection with the Reorganization, the additional Shares acquired by Tianqi would also be transferred to Tianqi Lithium.

An early warning report will be filed on SEDAR and will be available for review at www.sedar.com under Talison's profile.

Tianqi's financial adviser is RedBridge Grant Samuel, its tax and accounting adviser is PricewaterhouseCoopers, and its legal advisers are Linklaters and ZhongLun in China, Allens in Australia and Stikeman Elliott in Canada.

Further Information About Tianqi:

Tianqi is a privately held Chinese company founded in 2003.  Its business activities are primarily conducted through the following subsidiaries:

• Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries, Inc. - a Chinese company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, engaged in the production of lithium carbonate and other lithium products from chemical-grade lithium concentrates sourced from Talison;
  
  
• Sichuan Tianqi Industry Co., Ltd. - a distributor of technical grade lithium concentrates, as the sole distributor for Talison in China;
  
  
• Chengdu Tianqi Machinery - provides spare parts and accessories for machinery and electrical equipment used in the construction, packing and agriculture sectors; and
  
  
• Chengdu Sendasun Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. - undertakes research, development, manufacturing and sales of agricultural equipment.
  
  

Tianqi and its subsidiaries conduct their operations mainly from China, but have customers, business partners and suppliers in various countries around the world, including Europe, Australia, the United States and Japan.

More information about Tianqi is available from the following website: www.tianqigroup.cn/en/Index/aboutus.html

SOURCE Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group Co., Ltd