USA Rare Earth has announced plans to buy Brazilian rare earths miner Serra Verde in a deal worth $2.8 billion in cash and shares, as it seeks to challenge China’s dominance of the supply chain.
The Oklahoma-headquartered company said it will pay $300 million in cash and $126.9 million in its own newly issued stock for the transaction, which it expects to complete in the third quarter of 2026, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Rare earths have come to the fore as a key bargaining chip in the ongoing geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China, which produces nearly 70% of the world’s rare earths from mines and almost 90% of refined rare earths, which includes materials imported from other countries.
Western officials have repeatedly flagged Beijing’s supply chain dominance as a strategic challenge, particularly given that critical mineral demand is expected to grow exponentially, as the clean energy transition picks up pace.
“The world has become too dependent on a single source and it’s high time to break that dependency,” USA Rare Earth CEO Barbara Humpton told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday.
