Canadian uranium explorer IsoEnergy has struck a deal to acquire all the shares it does not already own in Consolidated Uranium.

As per the agreed terms, shareholders of Consolidated Uranium will receive 0.5 shares of IsoEnergy for each share held.

Upon deal completion, IsoEnergy shareholders will own around a 70.5% stake in the combined company while Consolidated Uranium will hold the remaining 29.5% interest.

The deal is expected to result in a new company, valued at $669.4m (C$903.5m), which will rank among the top ten publicly traded uranium-focused companies.

 IsoEnergy believes that the transaction will bolster its position for mergers and acquisitions in the future as well as bring greater access to capital and trading liquidity.

The new company will be backed by corporate and institutional investors including NexGen Energy, Energy Fuels, Mega Uranium and uranium exchange-traded funds.

IsoEnergy president and CEO Tim Gabruch said: “We are very excited by this transaction as it creates a new, diversified, industry-leading uranium development and exploration company of greater scale that is focused on growth in Canada, the United States and Australia, the world’s premier uranium jurisdictions.

“This merger provides our existing shareholders and new investors with an even greater opportunity to participate in the tremendous upside potential of our asset portfolio at a time when sentiment and support around the nuclear sector and the uranium industry in particular are increasingly positive.

“Together, our exceptional teams have the technical, capital markets and uranium industry expertise to create significant shareholder value by growing the combined entity into the uranium company of choice.”

The merged entity will include a suite of projects, which are in varying stages of development, offering near, medium and long-term leverage to rising uranium prices.

It will offer investors exploration exposure across a pipeline of properties in the US, Canada, Australia and Argentina.

Through the acquisition, Consolidated Uranium shareholders will benefit from entry to the Athabasca Basin, which contains the high-grade Hurricane deposit and a portfolio of other exploration-stage projects.