Uranium miner Denison Mines sweetens bid for OmegaCorp.

Vancouver Denison Mines (DML-T, DNMIF-O) has sweetened its offer for OmegaCorp (OMGCF-O, OMC-A), in a bid to capture all of the outstanding shares of the Australian company, which has a portfolio of uranium properties in southern Africa.

The latest offer, worth $166 million or A$1.15 per share, marks a 4.5% increase on a previous bid that was launched last December, and will remain open until April 13, 2007, Denison said.

As the sweetened bid has been dubbed Denisons final offer, it cannot (as a matter of law) be increased in the absence of an alternative proposal from a third party.

While Denison currently holds 31.5% of the common shares of OmegaCorp, shareholders who have already tendered into the earlier offer will receive the benefit of the higher bid.

If the offer succeeds, it will add a portfolio of uranium properties in southern Africa to Denisons flagship asset, a 22.5% stake in the McClean Lake uranium tailings processing facility in Saskatchewan.

It will also mark the first step in what Denison President Ron Hochstein has said will be a global expansion strategy focusing on uranium exploration and production.

The most advanced project in OmegaCorps portfolio is its wholly-owned Kariba uranium property, which is located about 200 kilometres south of Lusaka, the capitol of Zambia.

Last December, the directors of OmegaCorp were unanimous in recommending that shareholders of the Australian firm accept the offer from Denison. At the time, the directors said they had tendered their shares into the bid.

Shares of Denison rose 1 to $13.48 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, March 26.

Last week, Denison said it planned to raise $18 million from a non-brokered private placement of 1.1 million flow-through common shares at $16.30. It said a portion of the issue will be placed with officers and directors of the company, Denison said in a statement. It said the balance has been allocated.