Maginito completes acquisition of rare earth magnet recycler HyProMag
August 16, 2023
Maginito Ltd, based in Vancouver, Canada, has completed its previously announced acquisition of rare earth recycling company HyProMag, headquartered in Birmingham, UK. As per the transaction terms, the founding directors and management of HyProMag will continue to provide support and work closely with Maginito to further scale up and roll out the company’s patented Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS) recycling technology.
The payment to be made to the selling shareholders of HyProMag includes £1 million (CAD $1.7 million) in cash and the issue of 9,742,031 Mkango common shares, valued at £1 million (CAD $1.7 million). In addition, up to a further £3 million (CAD $5.1 million) may be payable to the vendors on the condition HyProMag achieves certain production milestones by June 30, 2026.
Maginito now also holds a 90% direct and indirect interest in HyProMag GmbH, a German company that also focuses on short loop rare earth magnet recycling, and 100% interest in Mkango Rare Earths UK Ltd, a UK-based company that focuses on long loop rare earth magnet recycling through a chemical route.
In March 2023, CoTec invested £1.5 million (C$2.6 million) into Maginito, and Maginito and CoTec agreed to collaborate on the commercialisation of downstream rare earth technologies in the United States. Mkango UK was at the same time transferred to become a subsidiary of Maginito. In connection with CoTec’s investment, John Singleton, Chief Operating Officer of CoTec, was appointed to the Board of Maginito.
Maginito stated that it targeting first production from the UK in 2023 and Germany in 2024, with parallel technology roll-out into the US.