From the West Australian (behind the Murdoch Paywall)

Adrian Rauso 31 January 2024

The West Australian

Here’s to you, Mrs Robinson! Chris Ellison’s mum-in-law among those to profit from hyped Kali float

Billionaire Chris Ellison’s mother-in-law was among the lucky investors to sell their stakes in Kali Metals for a hefty profit just as Mr Ellison’s Mineral Resources emerged with a 14 per cent slice of the vaunted lithium explorer, The West Australian can reveal.

Kali’s initial public offering was heavily backed by Perth rich-listers and A-listers including celebrity photographer Russell James, Multiplex heir Tim Roberts, Rod Jones and the Di Lallo family, who have all since fully cashed out.

A mysterious Jennifer Mary Robinson — who has sold down her holding substantially — was the second-biggest individual shareholder behind Mr Ellison prior to Kali’s listing.

The West can now reveal Mrs Robinson is the mother of the mining billionaire’s wife, Tia Ellison. Kali listed on the ASX on January 8 following the IPO undertaken at 25¢ per share.

MinRes started hoovering up shares in Kali immediately after it began life on the stock exchange, acquiring about 59 per cent of the 21.9 million Kali shares traded on the first day, and finalising a near 10 per cent stake in the junior by the end of January 9.

MinRes acquired that stake for an average of 43¢ a share, ASX disclosures on January 10 showed. It topped up its holding by another 4 per cent — at an average of 56¢ each — between January 17 and 22.

Since debuting on the bourse, Kali’s volume-weighted average price sits at 59¢, meaning its IPO investors would on average profit $680,000 for every two million shares sold. Mr Ellison — the founder and boss of MinRes — emerged as Kali’s third-largest shareholder prior to its listing debut via a 4.86 per cent stake through his Wabelo Pty Ltd, equating to seven million shares.

A copy of Kali’s share registry obtained by The West shows Mr Ellison has retained his stake, while Mrs Robinson’s holding has decreased from 3.5 million shares at listing to 800,000. Mrs Robinson has the same Mosman Park registered address as Mr Ellison’s Wabelo. Meanwhile, MinRes brand director and celebrity photographer Russell James has sold his one million Kali shares.

Both Mr James and Mr Ellison rub shoulders on the western suburbs social scene with Mario and Alison Di Lallo, who have also offloaded their 1.2 million of shares.

Mr Di Lallo was the founder of home insulation business Cool or Cosy, while Mrs Di Lallo runs the upmarket Halo Diamonds in Claremont.

Mr Roberts, a former MinRes director, was the fourth largest shareholder, with 2.8 per cent of the register comprising four million shares, which he has now also sold.

He and Mr Ellison in September 2022 sold a lakefront farm station in NZ they jointly owned for a reported $30m-plus.

Mr Jones, the co-founder of Navitas, is another rich-lister no longer a Kali shareholder, after previously holding a 2.4 per cent stake.

Kali had an extraordinary first week on the stock exchange, defying a bloodbath that swept through the vast majority of other ASX-listed lithium plays.

Its shares surged as high as 89¢ before cooling off to currently trade around 51¢.

A MinRes spokesman on January 10 said its investment in Kali was in accordance with its “comprehensive corporate governance procedures”.

“Which in this case meant the investment was approved by James McClements, chairman of the board of directors,” he said. “Managing director Chris Ellison is MinRes’ biggest shareholder, whose interests are fully aligned with all of our shareholders.”

Kali has also been in hot water with the ASX for the timing of high-grade rock chip sample results from its Higginsville lithium district, after MinRes wrapped up acquiring its major stake.

Kali told the market operator on January 15 its geological consultants took between December 22 and January 9 to sufficiently analyse the results and outcomes of the rock chip sampling program.

Kali is a spin-out from Kalamazoo Resources and Karora Resources, birthed following a heavily oversubscribed $15m IPO in November that closed within 20 minutes.

Bell Potter — which is closely associated with Mr Ellison and MinRes — and Canaccord Genuity were the joint lead managers for the IPO.

Kali holds a near-4000sqkm lithium ground position spread predominantly across the Pilbara and Goldfields.