North American lithium products supplier Piedmont Lithium and Sayona Mining, an Australian mining company, have provided an update on their proposed merger.

The merger will combine the two companies to establish a lithium business named Elevra Lithium.

Sayona will become the parent entity of the combined lithium business, under the terms of the merger deal announced in November 2024.

The merger is on track to be finalised by mid-2025, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.

The boards of both Piedmont and Sayona have selected their nominees for the Board of Directors of the new entity.

The board will comprise an equal number of nominees from each company, including Piedmont’s chair designate and Sayona’s current managing director and CEO.

Paul Crawford and Philip Lucas of Sayona, alongside Michael Bless and Claude Demby of Piedmont, will retire from their director roles upon the transaction’s closure. They will not be part of Elevra Lithium’s Board of Directors.

Keith Phillips, the current CEO and director of Piedmont, will transition to a strategic advisor role at Elevra Lithium following the merger.

Elevra Lithium chair designate Dawne Hickton said: “I am honoured to have been selected as chair-designate for Elevra Lithium, and we are pleased to announce the new Board of Directors for the merged company.

“The skills and experience of this remarkable group of people will be a significant factor in the future success of the combined business. I look forward to building a strong connection and leveraging our collective skills and experience to work with Elevra Lithium’s management team to devise, and deliver against, the strategy for what will become one of the world’s leading lithium companies.”