Silver Wheaton Corp. TSX: SLW NYSE: SLW

Silver Wheaton Announces C$250 Million Bought Deal Financing

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 26, 2009) -

Silver Wheaton Corp. (TSX:SLW)(NYSE:SLW) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by Genuity Capital Markets and GMP Securities L.P. pursuant to which they have agreed to

purchase, on a bought deal basis, 31,250,000 common shares of Silver Wheaton at a price of C$8.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds to Silver Wheaton of approximately C$250 million.

In addition, Silver Wheaton has agreed to grant to the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 4,687,500 common shares at a price of C$8.00 per share, on the same terms and conditions as the offering, exercisable at any time, in whole or in part, until the date that is 30 days following the closing of the offering. I

n the event that the option is exercised in its entirety, the aggregate gross proceeds of the offering to Silver Wheaton will be approximately C$287.5 million.

The net proceeds of the financing will be used to repay the Company's revolving debt facility and for general corporate purposes.

Upon completion of the financing, Silver Wheaton will have approximately US$20 million drawn from its US$400 million revolving debt facility, which will be available to fund further growth opportunities.

Following the repayment of the revolving debt facility, Silver Wheaton's only remaining debt will be its term debt facility of US$157 million, which is payable in quarterly installments, maturing in July, 2014, and the outstanding balance of its revolving debt facility (US$20 million).

"This equity financing accomplishes two important things for Silver Wheaton," said Peter Barnes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Silver Wheaton. "It significantly de-leverages our balance sheet, and positions our company to take advantage of some of the high-quality acquisition opportunities that we expect to become available during 2009. Our focus going forward is to continue to grow the asset base in an accretive manner, by adding high quality silver streams from low-cost mines that are already in production."

The common shares to be issued under this offering will be offered by way of a short form prospectus in all of the provinces of Canada and in the United States on a private placement basis pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the United States Securities act of 1933, as amended.

The offering is scheduled to close on or about February 12, 2009 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the securities regulatory authorities.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements.

2008 Preliminary Silver Sales Results

Total silver ounces attributable to Silver Wheaton in the fourth quarter of 2008 were approximately 3 million ounces, in line with previous guidance. Silver sales in the quarter totaled approximately 2.7 million ounces, the shortfall due to the timing of shipments from the Zinkgruvan and Stratoni mines, which was realized in the first two weeks of January 2009. Silver sales for 2008 will total approximately 11.1 million ounces at an estimated total cash cost of US$3.94 per ounce of silver.

Valuation of Marketable Securities

In common with most companies that hold long-term investments in marketable securities, the value of those investments has been severely impacted by the global credit crisis. As a result, Silver Wheaton is likely to record a non-cash write down of its long-term investments in marketable securities, of up to US$65 million in its Q4, 2008 financial statements. It is important to note that such impairment charge is primarily a reclassification of past mark-to-market losses recognized previously in Other Comprehensive Income, is a non cash item, and has no material impact on Silver Wheaton's debt covenant ratios.

2009 Silver Sales Forecast

The company confirms its previous estimates of future silver sales, based upon its current agreements, of between 15 million and 17 million ounces in 2009, increasing to approximately 30 million ounces by 2013.

Release of 2008 Financial Statements

Silver Wheaton expects to release its 2008 unaudited financial results on February 27, 2009.

Silver Wheaton is a trademark of Silver Wheaton Corp.