Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are taking off on Monday.
This has been driven by news that Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) has returned with an improved takeover offer.
The lithium giant has tabled a non-binding offer of $3 per share, which is up from $2.50 per share and values the lithium developer at $6.6 billion.
Importantly, on this occasion, Liontown has advised that this offer would be enough to get a deal done if it became binding.
In light of this, the ASX lithium share has decided to grant Albemarle due diligence access.
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What else is happening?
This isn't the only news relating to the ASX lithium share today.
In addition, S&P Dow Jones Indices has announced changes in the S&P/ASX Indices following its September quarterly review.
According to the release, effective prior to the open of trading on September 18, Liontown will be added to the ASX 100 index. It joins the index at the expense of retail giant Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN).
In response to the news, the Harvey Norman share price has tumbled 3.5% this afternoon. This could be because when a company is dumped from a particular index, the index funds that track the index are forced to sell their shares in order to reflect the changes.
In addition, some fund managers have strict investment mandates allowing them to only invest in shares from particular indices. If a fund manager is only allowed to invest in ASX 100 shares, it would have been forced to offload its Harvey Norman shares today if it owned them.
However, it is worth noting that if Liontown is acquired by Albemarle in the coming months, Harvey Norman could find itself returning to the ASX 100 index at the December or March rebalances.
