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ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSALS
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSALS.  
ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSALS

3. ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSALS

Sale of Uranium Business to enCore Energy

On December 31, 2020, Westwater, its wholly owned subsidiary URI Neutron Holdings II, Inc. (“Neutron Holdings”), and enCore entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) to sell their subsidiaries engaged in the uranium business in Texas and New Mexico (the “Uranium Subsidiaries”) to enCore. The transaction closed December 31, 2020.

 

At the closing of the transaction, enCore delivered $742,642 in cash and issued $1,795,000 worth of its common shares to Westwater and Westwater and Neutron Holdings transferred all of the equity interests in the Uranium Subsidiaries to enCore along with a copy of a database relating to the Grants Mineral Belt located in New Mexico. In addition, enCore delivered to Westwater a 2% net smelter return royalty (“NSR Royalty”) on production from the uranium properties held by Uranco, Inc. in New Mexico, and a 2.5% net profits interest (“NPI”) in the profits from operations of Neutron Energy, Inc.’s Juan Tafoya and Cebolleta Projects. Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, enCore has also agreed to replace the indemnification obligations of Westwater for certain reclamation surety bonds held in the name of URI, Inc., and Westwater transferred to enCore all rights to $3,796,788 in cash collateral held to secure such indemnity obligations.

 

Also, at closing, in accordance with the terms of the Side Letter executed by the parties to the Purchase Agreement, Westwater delivered $333,120 in cash to enCore, which amount was to be delivered in escrow upon the request of the lender, Celtic Bank, under the loan made to URI, Inc. in May 2020 pursuant to the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP Loan”). The escrowed amount was to be released to Westwater upon, and subject to, forgiveness of the PPP Loan under the terms of the CARES Act. The PPP Loan forgiveness application was filed on January 25, 2021 and Westwater received a notification from the SBA on March 31 that 100% of the loan had been forgiven. As a result, on March 31, 2021, the escrowed funds were returned to Westwater

 

The divestiture of the uranium business was accounted for as an asset disposal and the non-cash consideration received from enCore was recorded at fair value. In accordance with the terms of the purchase agreement, non-cash consideration included the receipt of shares of enCore common stock in the amount of $1,795,000. The number of shares issued at closing was 2,571,598. The number of shares was determined by a pricing formula based on the volume weighted average price (“VWAP”) of enCore’s common shares for the ten trading days ending on and including December 30, 2020. The VWAP formula resulted in a price of $0.698.

 

For purposes of determining the fair value of the enCore shares at December 31, 2020, the Company used the closing price for enCore shares on December 31, 2020 which was $0.736, resulting in a value of approximately $1,895,000. The Company then determined that a discount for lack of marketability should be considered because (1) the shares were not eligible for sale by Westwater until May 1, 2021, and (2) after May 1, 2021, the terms of the purchase agreement require WWR to offer enCore a first right to buy the shares if the amount to be sold in a single transaction is greater than 250,000 shares. Utilizing a precedent comparable transaction and Black-Scholes valuation methodology for fair value evaluation, the Company determined that a discount of 21%, or $375,000, should be applied to the shares. Accordingly, the carrying value of the shares has been adjusted to reflect a fair value of $1,520,000, and the discount was charged to loss on sale of uranium assets on the Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended 12/31/2020.

 

Finally, due to the high degree of uncertainties surrounding future mine development and uranium prices, as well as limited marketability, the Company determined the fair value of the NSR Royalty and NPI to be of nil value.

At December 31, 2020, the following fair value amounts were recorded as purchase consideration:

 

 

 

 

(thousands of dollars)

    

 

  

Cash

 

$

743

Transaction costs

 

 

(558)

Contingent consideration for PPP Loan escrow

 

 

333

enCore common stock

 

 

1,520

Total consideration received

 

$

2,038

 

At December 31, 2020, the Company recorded the following loss on disposal of uranium properties within its Consolidated Statement of Operations:

 

 

 

 

(thousands of dollars)

    

 

  

Total consideration received

 

$

2,038

Carrying value of uranium property, plant and equipment

 

 

(6,204)

Restricted Cash

 

 

(3,797)

Other assets

 

 

(579)

Asset retirement obligation

 

 

5,239

Note Payable (PPP loan)

 

 

333

Other liabilities

 

 

305

Loss on disposal of uranium entities

 

$

(2,665)

 

The loss was primarily related to resolution of transaction issues and final negotiations in the fourth quarter leading up to the transaction closing on December 31, 2020.