Fission possible takeover target after Cameco-Hathor bid, Versant reiterates buy rating

Fission Energy Corp (CVE:FIS) announced Friday its "buy" rating has been re-iterated by equity research firm Versant Partners, in light of the recent takover bid put forth by Cameco (TSE:CCO) for junior uranium company Hathor Exploration (TSE:HAT).
Canadian uranium giant Cameco announced this morning that it intends to make an offer for Hathor, in a deal that values the target company at $520 million.
"We believe this bid from Cameco is the positive catalyst many have been waiting for to reignite interest in the uranium space," Versant noted in its research report.
The $3.75 per-share cash proposal was delivered in written form by Cameco to Hathor following the close of market last Friday, but Cameco, one of the world's largest uranium producers, said that it decided to make the offer announcement after discussions with Hathor failed to result in a board-supported agreement.
The offer price for Hathor represents a premium of 40% over the company's closing price yesterday, and is 33% higher than the company's 20-day volume-weighted average price as at August 25. Hathor's shares have jumped over 46% today on the news already.
Hathor is focused on exploration projects in the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The company's most significant asset is the Roughrider uranium deposit, which is estimated to contain indicated resources of 17.2 million pounds of uranium in the west zone, plus another 40.7 million pounds of inferred resources in the east and the west zones.
The Roughrider deposit is strategically located roughly 25 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco's Rabbit Lake mill.
"This news is particularly interesting for Fission Energy, which is located directly adjacent to Hathor’s Roughrider Zone," Versant added.
Indeed, Fission's Waterbury Lake property curls around Hathor's property, and Versant noted it is likely that the  J-Zone East at Waterbury is the western extension of Roughrider.
This strategic position also makes Fission a target for a similar take-over bid, leading Versant to reiterate its buy rating for the company.
The J-Zone extends over a 90 metre by 50 metre area, and intersected 10.5 metres grading 1.91% uranium in hole WAT10-63A during a 2010 drill program.
As at 1:26 pm EDT, Fission shares had spiked on the TSX-Venture Exchange by 24%, trading at $0.62 per share.