Ellison’s executives revealed as owners in blockbuster lithium IPO
Three senior Mineral Resources executives who report to managing director Chris Ellison personally bought shares in Kali Metals, the lithium explorer whose share price spiked by more than 200 per cent in January because of aggressive buying by MinRes.
Kali Metals is a Perth-based lithium hopeful with prospective ground in Western Australia, NSW and Victoria that made its sharemarket debut on January 8 after raising $15 million from investors at an offer price of 25¢ a share.
MinRes chief financial officer and company secretary Mark Wilson, and managing director Chris Ellison. Michaela Pollock
The popular float was oversubscribed as it emerged that Mr Ellison, the billionaire founder of MinRes, had secured a 4.8 per cent stake before the listing. Mr Ellison’s business partner and construction billionaire, Tim Roberts, and mother-in-law Jennifer Robinson also held stakes in the company. As soon as Kali Metals went public, Mr Roberts sold his 2.8 per cent shareholding.
Share registers dated January 29 obtained by AFR Weekend reveal MinRes chief financial officer and company secretary Mark Wilson bought 600,000 shares in Kali Metals using a private investment company that shielded his identity. The register shows MinRes lithium chief Joshua Thurlow bought 400,000 shares in his own name, while Yenna Ong, MinRes’s director of international trade and strategy, acquired 200,000 shares.
It is not clear whether the three MinRes executives bought stocks before or after the sharemarket float. A MinRes spokesman dismissed questions, claiming its involvement with Kali Metals had been “widely reported in the past”.
“As previously disclosed, the approval and oversight of the Board Chair James McClements and restrictions on share trading were in place for management prior to Kali’s listing on the ASX.”
Kali Metals shares shot up in the days after its listing, helped by aggressive market activity from MinRes. ASX disclosures show MinRes bought 14.3 million shares or almost 10 per cent of Kali Metals on January 8, accounting for most of the share trading on the company’s first day.
A second disclosure a week later shows MinRes had bought enough shares to take its stake to 14 per cent. Kali Metals hit a high of 76¢ two days after listing.
MinRes was founded by Mr Ellison and has expanded from mining services to own iron ore projects, lithium developments and energy assets. It has grown into a company with a market capitalisation of more than $7 billion, making Mr Ellison and many close to him rich.
He has emerged as a key figure in Perth’s business establishment, lauded as a visionary entrepreneur who went from being a crusher, to owning his own mines and providing services to Rio Tinto and BHP.
But major shareholders are increasingly uneasy about the company’s governance. AFR Weekendrevealed last month that Mr Ellison and other senior figures had run an offshore tax scheme that made them money at MinRes’ expense.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has launched a preliminary probe into the matter, while the board disclosed this week that it had been investigating Mr Ellison’s entanglements with the Australian Taxation Office for more than two years.
The internal probe into the company’s founder and managing director had never been declared to shareholders. The board has committed to present findings this Monday.
MinRes shares fell 30 per cent after the Financial Review revealed the undisclosed tax matters. They rebounded this week after the company said it would sell gas assets to billionaire mining mogul Gina Rinehart for more than $1.1 billion.
‘Heavily oversubscribed’
Kali Metals was spun out of Kalamazoo Resources and Karora Resources last year. In November, Bell Potter and Canaccord sought investors for its $15 million raise, opening the bookbuild process. Within less than 20 minutes it had closed “heavily oversubscribed”.
MinRes later said it had been prevented from taking part. But it did not stop Mr Ellison, who acquired a 4.8 per cent personal stake using his Wabelo private investment vehicle.
The Kali Metals share register dated January 29 and obtained by AFR Weekend shows Yolson Pty Ltd held 600,000 shares in the lithium hopeful. Corporate records show Yolson is a vehicle co-owned by MinRes CFO Mr Wilson and his wife. Mr Thurlow bought 400,000 shares under his own name. He joined MinRes in 2022 and runs its lithium mines, reporting directly to Mr Ellison.
Mineral Resources lithium boss Joshua Thurlow. Ross Swanborough
The register shows Ms Ong owned her 200,000 shares, also under her own name. Her association with Mr Ellison stretches back to MinRes’ own IPO in 2006. She has held senior roles in the company, including general manager of sales and marketing, which was said to include lithium trading and commercial activities in Australia and China.
It’s not clear whether any of the senior executives were aware that MinRes intended to move on Kali Metals. Another Kali Metals share register several months later shows all three executives had held on to their shareholdings.
MinRes remains the largest shareholder of Kali Metals, but the lithium miner’s price has deteriorated to 14¢ a share – more than 80 per cent down from its January peak.
Others who got into the company did not hang around. Before Kali Metals went public, Mr Roberts’ Warburton family office got its hands on 4 million shares, becoming the miner’s fourth-largest shareholder.
A story in The West Australian would later reveal the mystery joint fifth-largest holder – a woman named Jennifer Robinson. She is Mr Ellison’s mother-in-law, and shared an address with the MinRes managing director’s private vehicle.
The Perth tabloid reported Mr Roberts had sold his entire stake in Kali Metals, while Ms Robinson sold almost 80 per cent. Navitas founder Rod Jones, who was also among the largest Kali Metals shareholders, dumped his entire holding by the end of January.
Broker data from Kali Metals’ first day of trading shows Bell Potter on both sides of two large block trades – for 4 million and 3½ million shares. It was the co-lead of the Kali Metals float, and has long-been associated with MinRes and Mr Ellison.
Bell Potter broker Brad Shallard declined to comment when asked by the Financial Review’s Rear Window this week about whether the trades were done for MinRes.
This masthead also revealed last week the New Zealand alpine property co-owned by Mr Ellison and Mr Roberts acquired heavy machinery from a MinRes subsidiary at prices that appeared to be discounted. Mr Roberts was on the board of MinRes at the time of the acquisitions by Halfway Bay.
He denied Halfway Bay bought “undervalued” equipment, or that he requested that it be supplied “at a discount”.
