The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is edging higher this afternoon after the company announced a sell-down by a key investor.
At the time of writing, the ASX lithium producer's shares are swapping hands at $1.11, up 0.91% at the time of writing.
In contrast, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is roaring 1.79% higher following strong gains on Wall Street overnight.
Let's take a closer look at the details Core Lithium released to the ASX.
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Key stakeholder reduces Core Lithium holding
In today's release, Core Lithium advised that its key shareholder Ganfeng has offloaded a portion of Core Lithium shares.
While Core Lithium did not disclose the number of shares disposed of, the sell-down now means that Ganfeng is no longer a substantial shareholder.
Prior to the market update, Ganfeng held more than 6% or roughly 100.6 million shares in Core Lithium.
In August 2021, Ganfeng subscribed for Core Lithium shares in a placement at a price of 33.8 cents apiece. The Chinese company is also an existing offtake partner.
Ganfeng noted the reason for reducing its holding was because of "portfolio weighting considerations and the opportunity to monetise a portion of the investment".
Core Lithium is building Australia's most advanced lithium project, with the first production of lithium spodumene concentrate scheduled in the first half of 2023.
Once online, the company's Finniss Lithium Project will be the first Australian lithium-producing mine outside of Western Australia.
Ganfeng's vice chair Wang Xiaoshen reaffirmed the position in Core Lithium, saying:
We remain a supportive partner of Core by virtue of our existing shareholding and binding offtake arrangement and look forward to seeing Finniss progress towards first commercial production.
About the Core Lithium share price
Shares in Core Lithium have surged 182% over the past 12 months and are up 86.4% year to date.
The company's share price reached an all-time high of $1.688 earlier this month.
Core Lithium has a market capitalisation of $1.91 billion.
