* Supervisory board has found no evidence of UraMin fraud
* Recommends corporate governance changes
* Seeks involvement in deals worth over 20 mln euros
* Areva says to apply board recommendations
(Adds detail from report, former CEO’s statement, additional
byline)
By Caroline Jacobs and Benjamin Mallet
PARIS, Feb 14 (Reuters) – An internal inquiry at Areva
has not found any evidence of fraud linked to the
French nuclear group’s takeover of Canadian mining company
UraMin but critised the way it was bought and urged changes to
Areva’s corporate governance.
State-controlled Areva bought UraMin’s three Southern
African mines for $2.5 billion in 2007, when buoyant demand for
nuclear energy combined with production delays at other mines, a
frenzy to secure supplies and acquisitions in the sector pushed
uranium prices to $135 a pound.
But the UraMin mines have yet to prove their money’s worth
at today’s price of $52 a pound, prompting Areva in December to
write down nearly their entire value and to appoint three of its
supervisory board members to conduct a review.
The supervisory board pointed to a “certain malfunctioning
in Areva’s governance” and concluded that the context of 2007
led the company, at the time led by Chief Executive Anne
Lauvergeon, “to underestimate the risk” of the acquisition.
Continued…
