Cameco makes its move on Hathor

Cameco Corp. is making a $520-million unsolicited offer for Hathor Exploration, which owns the Roughrider uranium deposit in Saskatchewan.

CEO Tim Gitzel tells BNN Cameco spoke to Hathor last Friday about entering a friendly transaction, but talks broke down. 

“Our valuations were quite a ways apart, and so we agreed there was no use in continuing negotiations, and so we went our separate ways,” he says.

Gitzel says Cameco plans to offer $3.74 per Hathor share, a 40-percent premium to Thursday's closing price. He calls the offer “very strong” and “very fair.”

Cameco has been watching the Roughrider deposit for many months, and Gitzel says the ore body cannot sustain a standalone mill and mine. He says Cameco can achieve economies of scale by milling the ore body using its existing facilities in the area.