Critical Metals Corp Restructures Its Portfolio as European Lithium Merger Vote Looms

European Lithium shareholders face takeover by Critical Metals Corp, which is reviewing assets—possibly selling Wolfsberg. Stock down 14% amid lithium price drop, but long-term gains remain.

European Lithium shareholders are heading into the decisive phase of their company’s takeover by Nasdaq-listed Critical Metals Corp, only to find that the acquirer is simultaneously reshaping its own asset base. Critical Metals Corp hired Clear Street as financial adviser and White & Case for legal counsel on 8 July to undertake a full portfolio review, with an eye to selling, spinning off or partnering on non-core assets. The Austrian Wolfsberg lithium project, which European Lithium has been developing with Saudi partner Obeikan, may be among those put on the block as the group sharpens its focus on Greenland’s Tanbreez rare earth deposit, where heavy rare earths represent around 27% of the resource.

The proposed merger itself remains on schedule. European Lithium expects to release the scheme booklet containing an independent expert’s fairness opinion in late July or early August 2026. Shareholders and option holders will then vote under Australian law, and barring any last-minute hurdles, the transaction is set to close in September. Upon completion, existing European Lithium investors will own roughly 41% of the combined entity. The company has also finalised a sale facility that allows holders of 50,000 or fewer shares or listed options to receive cash in lieu of dealing with a US-listed security.

The stock’s price action, however, tells a more cautious story. Shares closed at €0.20 on Friday, down 5.87% on the day, pushing the week’s loss to 14.5% and the month’s decline to 14.13%. The selling has been driven in part by a 2.21% drop in Chinese lithium carbonate futures to 155,000 yuan a tonne, as the market reassesses inventory levels and faces a flat forward curve through 2027. The 14-day relative strength index has slipped to 33.1, indicating an oversold condition, while the annualised 30-day volatility hit 77.58% — a sign of elevated trader anxiety.

Technically, the stock is now 21.75% below its 50-day moving average of €0.26 and more than a third off the 52-week high of €0.31 reached on 2 June. Yet the longer-term picture remains intact: the 200-day average of €0.16 still sits 25.24% below the current price, and the stock has gained 115.13% since the start of the year and 422.14% over twelve months. The decline looks more like a breather after an extraordinary rally than the start of a sustained downturn.

On the operational front, the two flagship projects are proceeding on independent tracks. In Greenland, site preparation for Tanbreez in Qaqortoq is on time, with office and warehouse construction due to finish by August before planned drilling for heavy rare earths begins. In Austria, the final investment decision for Wolfsberg remains pegged to stable lithium prices and secured financing — conditions that Chinese futures have not consistently met in recent weeks. The strategic review at Critical Metals adds a further layer of uncertainty, as the project’s future within the enlarged group is no longer guaranteed.

The political environment, meanwhile, continues to favour Western-backed critical minerals supply chains. EU member states joined the US-led Pax Silica initiative in June, an effort to build resilient semiconductor and critical mineral sourcing among allied nations. That backdrop underscores the long-term rationale for both Tanbreez and Wolfsberg, even as European Lithium prepares to fold itself into a larger corporate structure with a current market capitalisation of around €366.74 million.

For now, traders will watch two factors closely: the trajectory of Chinese lithium futures, and any fresh details on the scheme booklet’s timetable. The €0.20 level is acting as short-term support, with the 200-day moving average at €0.16 providing the next downside reference should the selling resume. Should the RSI remain in oversold territory and the stock hold that floor, the recent pullback may simply be the pause before the next leg of the merger story unfolds.