(Automated translation by Reuters using machine learning and generative AI, please refer to the following disclaimer:
(Added share price development to paragraph 2, details throughout the article)
U.S. uranium producer Energy Fuels UUUU.A will acquire rare earths company Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) ASM.AX in a deal valuing the Australian company’s equity at A$447 million ($300.9 million), both sides said in separate filings on Wednesday.
The deal, which represents a 121% premium to ASM’s January 20 closing price, sent the Australian producer’s shares up 126% to A$1.63.
The buyout is important for the United States, which is seeking to lock in Western supplies of metals used in applications such as wind farms, cell phones and missiles. Last year, Australia and the United States signed a framework cooperation agreement on critical minerals such as rare earths.
Under the terms of the agreement, Australian Strategic Materials shareholders would receive 0.053 Energy Fuels shares for each ASM share held, as well as a special dividend of up to A$0.13 per ASM share, giving a total implied value of A$1.60 per ASM share.
ASM’s board of directors unanimously recommended that ASM shareholders vote in favor of the transaction in the absence of a superior proposal, it said.
Once completed, the transaction will combine ASM’s Korean metallization plant and its proposed U.S. metals plant with Energy Fuels’ rare earth oxide production at its White Mesa plant in Utah.
It will also include a number of development projects. In Australia, these will include ASM’s Dubbo rare earths project in New South Wales, the Donald project in Victoria, as well as the Vara Mada project in Madagascar and the Bahia project in Brazil.
They are all intended to provide feedstock for the company’s planned expansion of the White Mesa plant to produce 6,000 tons per year (tpa) of neodymium-praseodymium oxides (NdPr), 240 tpa of dysprosium oxides and 66 tpa of terbium oxides.
Rare earth prices have been rising as Western countries work to reduce their dependence on China. In response, Australia considered setting a floor price and creating new international partnerships to support rare earth projects and establish alternative sources of supply.
Australian company Lynas Rare Earths LYC.AX is the world’s largest producer of rare earths outside of China. It produced 10,462 tonnes of rare earth oxides in FY2025.
($1 = 1.4857 Australian dollars)
