SYDNEY, Dec 19 Reuters Investors in Australian lithium producer Allkem voted on Tuesday to accept a 10.6 billion merger offer from U.S. giant Livent that would create one of the world39;s biggest lithium companies.

Allkem said in a regulatory filing that 72 of shareholders who voted on the deal were in favour of the transaction, with nearly 90 of the total number of votes cast for the deal to proceed.

Livent last week said it had received all regulatory approvals for the deal, which will create a company called Arcadium Lithium. Its shareholders will vote later on Tuesday.

Arcadium Lithium will have a sprawling footprint across major producing regions Australia, Argentina and Canada, and will operate across the supply chain from mining to delivering finished chemicals to batterymaker customers.

The mega deal is set to be one of the first to be completed among a wave of dealmaking activity that has crescendoed as lithium prices tanked this year, with companies overlooking slowerthanexpected electric vehicle uptake to bank on longterm demand.

It has been a tough year for the lithium industry, Allkem Chairman Peter Coleman said at the shareholder meeting.

In Australia, Chile39;s SQM and Australia39;s richest person, Gina Rinehart, on Tuesday sweetened to A1.7 billion 1.14 billion a bid for lithium developer Azure Minerals.

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