Ashurst Advises ARMZ on A$2.7b Acquisition of Uranium One
Ashurst has advised one of the world's largest uranium mining companies, Russian state-owned JSC Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ), on the acquisition of Uranium One, Inc. (U1). Under the Canadian Plan of Arrangement, ARMZ will acquire all of the common shares in U1 that ARMZ and its affiliates do not already own, taking its ownership of U1 from 51.4% to 100%. Following this U1 will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange. The implied value of U1 is A$2.7 billion and consideration paid to minority shareholders is A$1.25 billion. Ashurst lead partner on the matter, Mark Stanbridge, said: "ARMZ intends to develop Uranium One as the leading global uranium producer and we look forward to continuing to work with them on new investment opportunities." Ashurst has acted for ARMZ over a period of five years in relation to its investments in the uranium industry, including its previous investments in U1 to increase its shareholding to 51.4% and its investment in Mantra Resources Limited (which will be acquired from ARMZ by U1). Following the completion of this transaction, U1 will be ARMZ's investment vehicle for uranium investments outside of Russia. U1 is one of the world's largest listed uranium producers with a globally diversified portfolio of assets located in Kazakhstan, the United States, Australia and Tanzania. U1 owns the Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia, about 75km north west of Broken Hill. Honeymoon is one of only four producing uranium mines in Australia, with pilot production commencing in September 2011 and a design capacity of 880,000 pounds U3O8 per annum. The Ashurst team included partners Mark Stanbridge and Tanya Denning, senior associate Stuart Dullard and lawyer Ben Langford.