Australian Financial Review PRINT EDITION: 22 Mar 2011 Street Talk Edited by Paul Garvey and Khia Mercer
Speculation that Russia's Rosatom took the Japan nuclear crisis as an opportunity to secure a cheaper price for African uranium explorer Mantra Resources appears to be on the money.
As opposed to walking away from its $1.2 billion takeover bid, Rosatom subsidiary ARMZ is understood to be in the process of negotiating a new deal with Mantra and its corporate adviser, RBC Capital Markets.
Mantra entered a trading halt yesterday and was expected to reveal the details as early as last night but, as can often be the case with these things, it appears there have been some last-minute delays.
It's unclear what sort of price cut ARMZ will push for, but analysts noted that the initial bid put a valuation on the resource at Mantra's Mkuju River project in Tanzania of $US10.26 per pound of uranium, well above the market value of its peers.
The nuclear crisis in Japan is yet to have an impact on the other uranium takeover deal in the works, China Guangdong Nuclear Power's proposed $1.2 billion bid for Kalahari Minerals, which holds a 43 per cent stake in Extract Resources.
CGNP is understood to be focused on satisfying certain conditions before a May 3 deadline and only then will assess whether its proposal needs reworking in light of global circumstances.
Interestingly, Rio Tinto, a major shareholder in both Extract and Kalahari, is rumoured to have been sniffing around for uranium assets in Tanzania, although it would hardly be an early mover if it did acquire something in the country.
Resources floats have also encountered difficulties as a result of the recent Japan and Libya-related market volatility.
The latest supposedly under a cloud is commodity trader Glencore International's proposed GBP10 billion ($16.3 billion) float in London and Hong Kong.
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