Allkem and Livent’s $9.7 billion all-scrip merger has won support from Allkem’s shareholders, clearing the way for the creation of one of the world’s largest listed lithium companies.

Shareholders in New York-listed Livent will vote overnight on the deal, one of the largest in a year marked by a frantic global land grab for lithium assets despite plummeting prices for the green metal essential to decarbonisation.