Critical Metals Completes European Lithium Acquisition With $264.5 Million in Cash

Key Facts

Critical Metals said on November 5, 2026, that it had completed its acquisition of European Lithium, which became a wholly owned subsidiary, in a deal that expanded the company’s asset base and left it with cash of about $264.5 million immediately after completion. The transaction included the issuance of 90,539,994 new shares, bringing the number of issued and outstanding shares to 194,219,631 upon completion. The cash gives the company additional resources to develop its projects, led by Tanbreez in Greenland. But completing the acquisition of European Lithium does not by itself establish that Critical Metals owns the entire Tanbreez project. European Lithium held a 7.5% stake in the project before the deal, while Critical Metals said when announcing the agreement that the acquisition put it in a position to consolidate full ownership of the project.

The company said in its announcement that the consideration under the share scheme was 0.045 new Critical Metals shares for each eligible European Lithium share. It said the new shares allocated to former European Lithium shareholders were expected to begin trading on Nasdaq on November 6, 2026, under the ticker CRML. The share issuance means the deal increased outstanding shares as the acquired company joined the group. These details provide a basis for assessing the transaction’s effect on the capital structure alongside the reported cash balance. Full ownership of Tanbreez, which was cited as a goal of the deal in an earlier announcement, remains separate from the fact that the European Lithium acquisition has been completed.

When signing the acquisition agreement, Critical Metals outlined the cash resources available to both parties before completion. European Lithium had about A$306 million, equivalent to about $219 million, as of March 31, 2026, while Critical Metals had standalone cash of about $124 million. The company said at the time that the deal would strengthen funding for Tanbreez’s development. After completion, it reported cash of about $264.5 million, reflecting the company’s position immediately after the transaction. These figures remain tied to their respective dates and stated contexts, and do not represent an independent estimate of the project’s full funding needs.

Tanbreez is at a stage involving mining approvals, but those approvals do not mean all requirements to begin operations have been met. Critical Metals said Greenland’s government approved the project’s mining and closure plans in September 2026, with the approval covering the extraction of 19 elements and remaining valid through September 8, 2050. The company said operating permits for the activities are the next step before construction. In August 2025, it announced the appointment of NIRAS to complete a definitive feasibility study for a mining and processing operation targeting 500,000 tonnes annually. The available information does not establish a date for completing that study in the fourth quarter of 2027.

Plans published for the project in 2025 put financing, marketing and procurement among the targets for 2027, with construction estimated for 2027–2028 and initial production estimated for 2028. However, the preliminary economic assessment described its results as preliminary and insufficient to estimate mineral reserves, and estimated that reaching the projected range of results could require about $200 million in funding, without guaranteeing that it would be available on suitable terms. In a January 2026 update, the company said capital expenditure estimates under consideration remained in the range of $800 million to $1 billion. In the same call, it also said long-term offtake agreements covered all expected mine concentrate production, and that the Saudi framework allocates 25% of concentrate production to Saudi Arabia over the life of the mine. These figures and dates remain estimates and plans disclosed in earlier documents, while the project’s progress depends on completing operating permits, financing and development stages.

CRML shares closed at $5.82 on November 10, 2026, according to EL7 data. That closing price was from the session before this story’s date and does not by itself establish a market response to the November 5 announcement that the acquisition had been completed. CEO Tony Sage said when the initial agreement was announced on April 27 that the market reaction was "very positive," describing the deal as logical and strategically justified. His comment referred to the reaction to the initial announcement on that date, not to the share move in the November 10 session. Tanbreez’s progress remains tied to the company completing operating permits and the financing and development stages set out in its earlier plans.