Australia's Lynas Rare Earths announced on Thursday that it will acquire Perth-based miner Meteoric Resources in an all-stock transaction that values the latter at A$968 million (approximately US$672 million).

Under the acquisition plan, Lynas will acquire all shares of Meteoric at a fixed exchange ratio of 0.0207 new Lynas shares for every Meteoric share; based on Meteoric's closing price on the previous trading day, the deal carries a premium of more than 68%.

The transaction will give Lynas access to Meteoric's flagship Caldeira rare earth project in Brazil.

Lynas said it plans to work with Meteoric's existing team to advance the development of Caldeira, and expects capital expenditure for the project's development to exceed US$500 million.

The company also committed to providing Meteoric with an interim financing facility of up to A$110 million to fund the ongoing development of the Caldeira project.

In the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent expert determining that the transaction is in the best interests of shareholders, the Meteoric board has unanimously recommended approval of the scheme.