The founder of uranium firm Yellow Cake’s new venture, Cobalt Holdings, is looking to float in London as early as May.
The Times reports that Jake Greenberg’s firm is looking to raise £180m to buy up $200m (£155m) of Cobalt from Glencore in a six-year supply deal.
Glencore is set to be a cornerstone investor, with a 10 per cent stake in Cobalt Holdings.
The IPO has been bolstered by the Democratic Republic of Congo – which produces the majority of the global cobalt supply – halting exports for four months in February, in a move that is expected to stabilise cobalt prices.
The price of cobalt has dropped to $10 per pound – a quarter of its peak price in 2022 – as a result of Chinese stockpiling of the metal.
Cobalt Holdings’ listing is expected to be one of the first major London IPOs of the year, following a slow down in the market since the 2021 boom.
Greenberg previously headed up natural resource sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and is currently in charge of commodity sector consultancy Sage Enterprises.
His other company Yellow Cake, was listed in 2018, and is currently valued at £938m. Over the past 12 months shares in Yellow Cake have jumped 112 per cent.