Published: June 14, 2022 |

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US-based Uranium Energy Corporation (UEC) has agreed to acquire Canada-based uranium and cobalt exploration and development firm UEX in a transaction valued at C$234 million ($181 million).

Under the terms of the deal, UEC will acquire all the common shares of UEX by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

UEX’s shareholders will receive 0.0831 of a UEC common share, in exchange for each share of UEX common stock held. The share exchange ratio indicates consideration of around C$0.43 ($0.33) per UEX Share, which is nearly 50 percent premium to the closing price of UEX shares on 10 June 2022.

Upon closing of the transaction, UEC shareholders are expected to own around 86.3 percent and UEX shareholders a 13.7 percent stake in the combined company.

“UEC’s acquisition of Uranium One Americas in December 2021 marked the largest M&A transaction in the uranium sector in about a decade. The transaction was highly accretive for the company, and we have seen a very positive response from our shareholders and the marketplace. It also marks the largest North American M&A transaction in the uranium sector following the U1A acquisition,” said UEC President and CEO Amir Adnani.

“This transaction underscores UEC’s sector-leading strategy as the fastest-growing, pure-play, 100 percent un-hedged uranium company with assets only in the Western hemisphere,” added Adnani.

UEX owns a portfolio comprising 29 uranium projects that cover important areas of the producing eastern side and developing western side of the prolific Athabasca basin.

Five projects are advanced resource stage and already in strong joint-venture partnerships with uranium miners which enable UEC to remain operationally focused in the US, while benefiting from a new development pipeline with exploration potential in Canada.

The company’s portfolio is said to complement UEC’s near-term production-ready and brownfield assets in the U.S., and those in Canada, with medium and long-term potential.

UEC has a balance sheet with more than $180 million of cash and liquid assets, zero debt, supporting production readiness and the ability to advance a strengthened project portfolio.

Its strong balance sheet is expected to provide UEX with additional capital to fund the continued exploration of its projects in the Athabasca basin and Nunavut.

“This transaction with UEC reflects the efforts of the UEX team to create value through building an attractive strategic portfolio of assets and ultimately delivers a great outcome for UEX shareholders and complements our recent acquisition of JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited,” said UEX President and CEO Roger Lemaitre.

“The combination of UEC and UEX brings together two very strong and complementary portfolios and, in addition to a significant premium, provides our shareholders with the opportunity to participate in the continued growth of UEC,” added Lemaitre.

The deal is anticipated to complete in the third quarter of 2022.

Source: NS Energy

About Uranium Energy Corp.
Uranium Energy Corp is America’s leading, fastest growing, uranium mining company. UEC is a pure play uranium company and is advancing the next generation of low-cost, environmentally friendly ISR mining uranium projects. The company has two production ready ISR hub and spoke platforms in South Texas and Wyoming, anchored by fully licensed and operational processing capacity at the Hobson and Irigaray Processing Plants. UEC also has seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all of their major permits in place. Additionally, the company has other diversified holdings of uranium assets, including: 1) one of the largest physical uranium portfolios of U.S. warehoused U3O8; 2) a major equity stake in the only royalty company in the sector, Uranium Royalty Corp; and 3) a pipeline of resource-stage uranium projects in Arizona, New Mexico and Paraguay. The company’s operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

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