AOMC, Odyssey merge to build $1B deep-sea miner

American Ocean Minerals is merging with Odyssey Marine Exploration (Nasdaq: OMEX) in a reverse takeover that will create a roughly $1 billion market cap deep-sea mining company.

The all-stock transaction includes more than $150 million in private placement financing from institutional and strategic investors, alongside a $75 million pre-public raise completed in February by American Ocean Minerals.

The combined company will retain the American Ocean Minerals name and trade on Nasdaq under the symbol AOMC, pending shareholder approval. Former Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese will serve as chairman, with capital markets veteran Mark Justh as CEO.

“AOMC will be positioned to be a reliable, long-term supplier for American re-industrialization,” Albanese said. “We are taking a differentiated, responsible approach to the research and development of deep-sea resources. The work over the past decade has set a high standard for advancing the industry responsibly, and we are proud to play a role in maintaining that standard.”

Critical minerals push

The deal comes as the U.S. and its allies push to secure alternative sources of critical minerals used in batteries, manufacturing and defence, amid growing concern over concentrated global supply.

It is also one of several moves to accelerate ocean-floor mining that have gained momentum over the past year, after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order to fast-track offshore mining, aiming despite strong opposition from environmental groups.

American Ocean Minerals is building a portfolio across the Cook Islands’ exclusive economic zone and U.S.-regulated international waters, including the Clarion-Clipperton Zone and the Penrhyn Basin, with interests in two licensed exploration projects in the Pacific. In U.S.-regulated waters, the company has met compliance requirements for two exploration applications under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, covering more than 1.4 billion tonnes of inferred resources.

The focus is on polymetallic nodules containing nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese, iron and rare earth elements, which are critical to electrification, steelmaking and energy storage.

Together, the assets represent billions of tonnes of mineral resources and position the company to advance toward prefeasibility and environmental studies as regulatory clarity improves.