Tirupati Graphite PLC (LSE:TGR, OTCQX:TGRHF) has appointed Musst Investments and ViTa-Connect as financial advisers to aid its financing discussions.
Musst and ViTa-Connect's principals and associates have significant experience in raising institutional capital both equity and debt, structuring financial transactions for natural resources, and come from advisory, banking and private equity backgrounds, Tirupati added in a statement.
Tirupati said it is looking to raise up to £3 million for working capital to streamline the current flake graphite operations in Madagascar plus further project finance of up to £80 million to expand output to 54,000 tons per annum production and to develop the first 50,000 tons per annum module in Mozambique.
Negotiations are at an advanced stage with a strategic financier for a solution for working capital needs and the part-financing of further expansion and development funding, Tirupati added.
Initial due diligence has been completed and the parties are engaged in concluding the headline terms of the transaction, said the statement.
In addition, talks are also at the diligence stage with a Middle East sovereign fund keen on investments in battery minerals, the statement said, while discussions are ongoing in relation to VAT refunds in Madagascar (c.$2 million) as well as Mozambique (c.$1.2 million).
Shishir Poddar, Tirupati’s chief executive added: “We continue to make progress with financial institutions and strategic partners, who recognise the unique opportunity that the company has, to be the leading supplier of flake graphite outside China.”