Paladin cashes up for M&A

Finance

Publishing Date: 09 Sep 2009 2:40pm GMT
Author: Mining Journal

Namibian uranium producer Paladin Energy Ltd plans to undertake an institutional placement of up to 15% of its issued capital, worth about A$450 million (US$388 million), with part of the funds earmarked for consolidation opportunities.

The funding will “provide Paladin with the financial capacity to advance M&A and inorganic growth opportunities”, the firm said.

The ASX-listed company recently approved the US$71 million stage 3 expansion of its flagship Langer Heinrich uranium mine, to produce 5.2Mlb/y (2,359t/y) of U₃O₈ by September 2010. Funds from the institutional placement will also be used for this expansion.

The company also owns, or has an interest in, exploration projects in Australia, which will be driven closer to development with funds from the institutional placement.

Paladin said the price and terms of the offering would be determined after marketing effort, to be undertaken by RBC Capital Markets and UBS AG Australia acting as global joint lead placing agents.

A person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires that Paladin was planning to place the new shares at A$4.45-4.70/share.