Denver-based mining company Energy Fuels said on June 23 that it has acquired German magnetics company Vacuumschmelze, also known as VAC, from private equity firm Ara Partners for about $1.9 billion in cash and stock.
Canadian law firm Dentons, Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney and British law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer are the outside legal advisors to Energy Fuels.
Latham & Watkins advised Ara Partners with an international team led by Houston partners Justin T. Stolte, Ryan Lynch and Max Klupchak.
Energy Fuels agreed to pay $718 million cash and more than 65.8 million common shares to combine its upstream rare earth element assets with VAC’s downstream magnet manufacturing expertise. VAC has its headquarters in Hanau, which is about 15 miles east of Frankfurt am Main in west-central Germany.
Energy Fuels President and CEO Ross Bhappu called the deal a transformative moment in the rare earth supply chain.
“Together with VAC, we will strengthen global rare earth and magnet supply chains, providing a reliable, secure and diversified source of critical materials from mines to highly valued permanent magnets,” Bhappu said in a news release. “VAC’s rapid solidification and crystalline businesses provide a soft-magnetics platform that is expected to result in greater scale, broader customer reach and enhanced ability to invest in innovation, manufacturing and growth.”
Energy Fuels also said it received a commitment for up to $725 million from the U.S. Office of Strategic Capital in the form of a 20-year loan to accelerate the expansion of the White Mesa Mill in Utah and the construction of the American Metals Plant.
VAC President and CEO Dr. Erik Eschen said the merger creates “a fully integrated supply chain platform from mine to finished magnet.”
“Joining forces with Energy Fuels gives our team, our technology, and our customers something that no other Western platform can offer today,” Eschen said in a news release. “With Energy Fuels’ proven upstream capabilities and VAC’s downstream expertise, proprietary IP, and the state-of-the-art Sumter Facility, we will be uniquely positioned to serve rapidly growing demand across various sectors including automotive, aerospace, defense, hyperscale data centers, robotics, semiconductors and beyond.”
Other Latham Texas lawyers who worked on the deal include Sarah Rodrigue (Houston), Cooper Shear (Houston), Johnny Zhuang (Houston), William Brown (Austin), Pamela Kellet (Houston), Ryan Maierson (Houston), Trevor Wommack (Houston), Jared Grimley (Houston), Jack Bergantino (Austin), Kara Burkett (Houston), Robert Brown (Houston/Austin), Stuart Cobb (Houston), Ann Johnson (Houston), Luisa Yokubaitis (Austin) and Dominick Constantino (Houston).
Advice was also provided by partners James Barker (Washington, D.C.), Kevin Chambers (Washington, D.C.), Jessica Cohen (New York), Julie Crisp (Los Angeles/San Francisco), Jason Cruise (Washington, D.C.), Jana Dammann de Chapto (Hamburg), Chirag Dedania (New York), Michael Egge (Washington, D.C.), Laura Ferrell (Chicago), Drew Gardiner (San Diego), Heiko Gotsche (Düsseldorf), Michael Green (London), Alexandra Hagelueken (Frankfurt), Max Hauser (Düsseldorf/Frankfurt), Kyle Jefcoat (Washington, D.C.), Joshua Marnitz (Los Angeles/Houston), Carles Esteva Mosso (Brussels), David Rath (Frankfurt), Verena Seevers (Hamburg), Oliver Seiler (Frankfurt), Jennifer Tian (Chicago), Harrison White (Los Angeles), Steffen Augschill (Düsseldorf), Martina Eisgruber (Frankfurt), Katharina Intfeld (Düsseldorf) and Rachel Katz (New York).
More Latham lawyers who provided counsel include Victoria Allen (New York), Kirstin Chubb (San Diego), Matthew Crawford (Boston), Toon Dictus (London), Kenny Hildebrand (New York), Lena Hummel (Munich), Alexandra Kandalaft (Washington, D.C.), Brandon Kerns (Los Angeles), Laura Lange (Düsseldorf), Josh Lin (Boston), Alexander Perkowski (Washington, D.C.), Alexander Pfeifer (Düsseldorf), Bruce Racine (New York), Nicolas Riemann (Hamburg), Andrea Strackerjan (Hamburg), LinLin Teng (San Francisco), Erik Thompson (Boston), Aaron Tso (Los Angeles), Tianyu Wang (New York), Jacqueline Zhang (Washington, D.C.) and Ivy Ziedrich (Washington, D.C.).
For financial advisors, Energy Fuels used Goldman Sachs and VAC engaged Jefferies for the deal.