Canada’s Uranium Royalty has agreed to buy privately held US land and mineral royalty company Sweetwater Royalties for about US$1.1bn (€934m) as it bids to diversify and capitalise on rising demand for nuclear fuel.

The deal will see Sweetwater and Uranium Royalty combine under a new US-based parent company that will apply to have its common shares listed on Nasdaq, according to a statement. Sweetwater’s majority shareholders, Orion Resource Partners and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, will receive US$330m in cash and US$813m in stock of the new company – also named Uranium Royalty – at a deemed value of US$3.64 per share.