(Reuters) - Denison Mines Corp (>> Denison Mines Corp) on Monday agreed to buy competitor Fission Uranium Corp (>> Fission Uranium Corp) for around C$483 million ($381.97 million), creating a diversified Canadian uranium company with projects centered on the Northern Saskatchewan region.

The combined company, to be named Denison Energy Corp, will have a market value of around C$900 million and be equally owned by Denison's and Fission's shareholders, the two companies said in a statement.

"This merger will create the uranium industry's leading exploration and development company at a time when the sector is poised for growth," Fission Chairman and Chief Executive Dev Randhawa, who will become CEO of the combined company, said.

Fission shareholders will receive 1.26 shares of Denison for each Fission share they hold plus C$0.0001 per share in cash.

The offer implies a price of C$1.25 per Fission share, an 18 percent premium to the average volume-weighted price of Fission's shares over the past 30 days. With some 386 million shares outstanding, the offer translates into a price of around C$483 million for Fission.

The combined company will have a strong position in Canada's Athabasca Basin in Northern Saskatchewan through Fission's Patterson Lake South Project and Denison's Wheeler River Project.

($1 = 1.2645 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Andrew Hay)

Stocks treated in this article : Denison Mines Corp, Fission Uranium Corp