First Uranium Doubles on Boosted Payout Plan: Joha First Uranium Doubles on Boosted Payout Plan: Johannesburg Mover
By Stephen Gunnion
June 7 (Bloomberg) --First Uranium Corp. climbed the most in more than five years as the uranium and gold producer said it would give $50.2 million to shareholders after selling assets to AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. and Gold One International Ltd.
First Uranium shares more than doubled to 1.43 rand by 1:15 p.m. in Johannesburg, the biggest increase since it listed on the city’s stock exchange in 2007. A close at that level would be the highest since Feb. 24.
The company raised the amount it expects to distribute to shareholders once it sells its Mine Waste Solutions business to AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. and its Ezulwini Gold Mine to Gold One International Ltd. from the $36.6 million proposed on March 2 when it announced the deals. Holders of the company’s notes will get $154.9 million, down from $167.7 million, while debenture holders will get $140.7 million, from $147.7 million.
A group of shareholders was opposed to the previous plan and investors may be “hoping that this increase in the distribution will get the support of those shareholders,” Edward Sterck, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said by phone from London. “They’ve increased the distribution to normal shareholders by trimming the proposed returns to debt holders and they still require the approval from those debt holders for the transaction to go ahead.”