{"text":[[{"start":11.45,"text":"A US rare earths company backed by the Trump administration is to acquire a Brazilian producer in a cash-and-stock deal worth $2.8bn that underscores Washington’s efforts to secure access to the coveted minerals."}],[{"start":25.25,"text":"USA Rare Earth on Monday announced an agreed takeover of Serra Verde, which operates a mine and processing plant in the central Brazilian state of Goiás. "}],[{"start":34.95,"text":"The Oklahoma-based group said it planned to create a combined entity with activities across the supply chain of heavy and light rare earths, which play an important role in applications including magnets for electric vehicles, renewable energy and weapons systems. "}],[{"start":49.2,"text":"The transaction would be paid for with new shares and $300mn in cash, it added, implying an equity valuation of $2.8bn for the Brazilian company. "}],[{"start":59.150000000000006,"text":"USA Rare Earth’s Nasdaq-listed shares rose 8.3 per cent in pre-market trading following the announcement, giving a market capitalisation of $4.4bn."}],[{"start":70.65,"text":"“By combining Serra Verde’s world-class operations and team with our processing, separation, metallisation and magnet-making capabilities, we are advancing our goal of creating a fully integrated platform that will serve as a cornerstone of global rare earth supply security for decades to come,” said USA Rare Earth chief executive Barbara Humpton. "}],[{"start":91.55000000000001,"text":"Western countries have been scrambling to find alternative sources of rare earths, a group of 17 metallic elements whose global output is dominated by China, after Beijing restricted their export in retaliation against US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs."}],[{"start":107.55000000000001,"text":"Considered vital for 21st-century technologies, processing of the materials is especially challenging."}],[{"start":114.30000000000001,"text":"USA Rare Earths, to which Washington has pledged up to $1.6bn in financial support, is one of the US government’s biggest bets on building a domestic rare earths supply chain."}],[{"start":125.70000000000002,"text":"The company intends to mine rare earths and produce magnets domestically in the US, although it does not yet do either commercially. "}],[{"start":133.60000000000002,"text":"With the world’s largest rare earths reserves after China, Brazil’s largely untapped deposits have attracted international attention, both from companies and governments. "}],[{"start":144.8,"text":"Serra Verde’s Pela Ema site is the country’s only operational producer. Humpton described the facility as a “one-of-a-kind asset and the only producer outside Asia capable of supplying all four magnetic rare earths at scale”."}],[{"start":158.55,"text":"The $2.8bn valuation made it largest rare earths deal “by some margin”, said David Merriman, research director at minerals consultancy Project Blue."}],[{"start":168.65,"text":"Nasdaq-listed Serra Verde last year received a loan of more than $500mn from the Development Finance Corporation, a US public lender. "}],[{"start":176.70000000000002,"text":"It has also signed a 15-year supply deal with an entity backed by US government agencies, in an agreement including guaranteed minimum floor prices. "}],[{"start":186.3,"text":"Serra Verde is expected to account for about half of heavy rare earths — which are scarcer and more valuable — outside China by 2027, according to USA Rare Earth."}],[{"start":196.9,"text":"Serra Verde’s chief executive Thras Moraitis will join the board of the enlarged group alongside mining grandee Sir Mick Davis. "}],[{"start":205.4,"text":"The acquisition is expected to close later this year."}],[{"start":217.65,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776735143_9054.mp3"}