Company to suspend trading, delist in October due to buyout

TORONTO and JSE-listed Uranium One will suspend trading on the JSE on October 14 and terminate its listing on October 22, after final clearance for its takeover by Russia’s JSC Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ).

The state-owned firm is a mining arm of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) and is one of the top three global uranium producers.

ARMZ already owned 51.4% of Uranium One when it made an offer in January to acquire the outstanding balance of its shares for a cash consideration of C$2.86, which equates to R27.36 per share. That implied an equity value for Uranium One of about C$2.8bn and the offer was approved on March 7 at a special shareholders meeting.

Uranium One announced yesterday that all regulatory approvals had been received and all conditions precedent met to complete the agreement. Closing of the transaction is expected to take place on October 18.

Most of Uranium One’s operations are in Kazakhstan and the firm is assessing development of the Mkuju River uranium project in southern Tanzania.

The project overlaps part of the Selous Game Reserve. Uranium One’s website says the Unesco World Heritage Committee has approved an application by Tanzania for “a minor adjustment” to the boundary of the game reserve, removing the Mkuju River project and an adjacent buffer zone from the Selous Game Reserve world heritage site. Uranium One has applied for a special mining licence in Tanzania. It is preparing a definitive feasibility study on the project.