japan nuclear restart portends uranium deals

By Tara Lachapelle, Feb 22, 2014 Bloomberg News

Uranium takeovers are on the verge of a comeback that would put companies from Denison Mines Corp. (DML) to Fission Uranium Corp. in play.

Prices of the radioactive metal are forecast to climb more than 40 percent by the end of the year as Japanese power plants restart nuclear reactors that have been shut down since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima. The rebound in uranium demand may fuel takeovers as buyers try to get ahead of rising prices, Bank of Nova Scotia said. The median price-book ratio for uranium stocks is almost half the level it was before the disaster, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“Now is a great time for cherry-picking good assets,” Rob Chang, a Toronto-based analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald LP, said in a phone interview. “We think 2014 is going to be really the kick-off year for the uranium space. The timeframe for cheap acquisitions may be running out.” ...............


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-21/japan-nuclear-restart-portends-uranium-deals-real-m-a.html