Uranium merger to create big explorer


CAMERON ENGLAND
August 07, 2007 02:15am
TORO Energy would become a $400 million uranium company under a merger proposal which was announced yesterday.
As flagged in The Advertiser on Saturday, Adelaide-based Toro plans to merge with West Australian company Nova Energy.
Toro will offer 5.5 of its shares for every Nova share, in a deal which would create one of Australia's largest uranium explorers.
Oxiana is a major shareholder in both and would control 46 per cent of the merged entity. Adelaide's Minotaur Exploration would control 7.3 per cent, Argonaut 4 per cent and Allarrow 3.5 per cent.
Each of these companies have agreed to the merger.
The new Toro would own or control advanced resources and greenfields uranium exploration projects in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory and as well as the African states of Namibia, Guinea and Morocco.
Toro chief executive Greg Hall would stay on in his current role,
"This is a paradigm shift for both companies," Mr Hall said yesterday.
The companies said the offer represented a 19 per cent premium to Nova's last trading price of $3.70 per share, valuing the merger target at $276 million or $4.40 per share.