US-Funded South African Helium Producer Gets Takeover Bid From Washington Firm
(Bloomberg) -- A South African helium and gas company, to which the US government has committed $540 million in funding, has received a takeover bid from Washington DC-based ASP Isotopes Inc.
The bid for Renergen Ltd. chimes with the Trump administration’s drive to have American companies invest to secure critical material supply chains.
It comes from a company that while based in the US, says it traces its history to South Africa’s uranium enrichment program during the apartheid era. Several of its executives worked in that program.
The US International Development Finance Corp. “is prioritizing investments to create secure natural resource supply chains for the US and our allies,” the state-owned development finance institution, said in a response to questions earlier this month. “This includes critical minerals, helium, other natural resources.”
The Trump administration is pushing for deals that could see US companies invest in critical minerals production in Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
Renergen shares rose as much as 79% in Johannesburg after ASP offered 0.09196 of its shares shares for every Renergen share. ASP has a market value of about $565 million while Renergen, which traded 42% higher as of 3:17 p.m. local time, is worth around 1.6 billion rand ($89 million).
Helium is used in a number of applications including pressuring fuel tanks in space rockets.
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