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In a twist that rattled London’s financial market, Pineapple Power Corp. PLC announced Thursday it has terminated its proposed acquisition of Australian mining company Buffalo Battery Metals, ending months of negotiations that once promised a gateway into the booming electric vehicle supply chain.

The London-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) said both sides mutually agreed to scrap the $deal, despite what the firm described as “significant effort by both parties” to close the transaction.

Trading Suspension to Be Lifted

Pineapple Power, whose shares have been suspended from trading for over eight months, has asked Britain’s financial regulator to lift the freeze, allowing it to resume trading on the London Stock Exchange’s main market.

Clive de Larrabeiti, the firm’s corporate finance adviser, called the collapsed deal “regretful,” but struck an optimistic tone, noting that Pineapple remains “one of very few available cash shells” still listed on the LSE—making it an attractive route for companies eager to tap international financial markets.

A Pattern of Broken Deals

This marks Pineapple’s second failed transaction in recent months. In May, it scrapped a proposed reverse takeover of German artificial intelligence company Fuse E-AI GmbH. Shares were suspended in December when the Fuse deal was announced, then remained frozen as Pineapple pursued Buffalo Battery Metals.

The company, however, has already received new inquiries from potential partners. “Pineapple is actively exploring and will update the market in due course,” de Larrabeiti said.

Why Buffalo Battery Metals Mattered

Fremantle-based Buffalo Battery Metals focuses on extracting lithium, copper, and gold from Zimbabwe—metals crucial to the surging electric vehicle industry. According to the International Energy Agency, nearly 14 million new electric cars were registered globally in 2023, accounting for 18% of total car sales and pushing the worldwide EV fleet to 40 million.

Had the acquisition gone through, Pineapple Power had planned to shift to the London Stock Exchange’s junior investment market, aligning itself more closely with growth-focused investors.

For now, investors are left watching whether Pineapple’s next move will be another false start or the breakthrough it needs to finally anchor itself in one of the world’s fastest-growing industries.