Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are crashing into the red again on Thursday.
In morning trade, the lithium developer's shares are down 12% to $1.20.
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Why are Liontown shares crashing?
There are a couple of reasons why Liontown shares are under pressure this morning.
The first is further weakness in the lithium industry, which has led to most ASX lithium shares falling today.
For example, Arcadium Lithium (ASX: LTM), Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO), and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are all down approximately 2.5% at the time of writing.
Albemarle selldown
Another reason why its shares are falling today are reports that its former suitor, Albemarle Corp (NYSE: ALB), has offloaded its stake in the lithium developer following its failed takeover bid.
As a reminder, Albemarle was seeking to acquire Liontown for $6.6 billion or $3.00 per share. However, with Gina Rinehart effectively purchasing a blocking stake, the lithium giant withdrew its offer in October.
The company explained:
Albemarle has advised Liontown that its decision to withdraw its proposal was due to the growing complexities associated with executing the transaction. Albemarle has confirmed to Liontown its favourable view of the flagship Kathleen Valley project and Liontown's management.
Albemarle may have a favourable view of the project, but it isn't sticking around to see its development as a major shareholder.
According to the AFR, Albemarle was looking to sell the stake for a price of $1.26 to $1.32 per share on Wednesday. The former represents a 7.4% discount where Liontown shares closed the session.
And while the company has not yet commented on the reports, it is worth noting that approximately 96.26 million Liontown shares were traded before the market open for $1.26 per share. It seems quite likely that this was Albemarle's stake.
Liontown's shares are now down 60% over the last four months.
