Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plant Is Bought

Cameco Corp. is launching a $7.9 billion bid for U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric. The company said on Friday, in a deal that would make it the largest uranium producer. Outside Kazakhstan and a key supplier of nuclear fuel to power plants around the world.

Westinghouse is the world’s largest maker of nuclear power plants.

It’s owned by Toshiba, a Japanese conglomerate, and had its headquarters in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania until it moved its corporate offices to Pittsburgh in 2016.

The deal has not been finalized yet but if it goes through, Cameco will become the largest producer of uranium in the world.

Cameco and Toshiba each hold a one-third stake in Westinghouse.

The deal will see Toshiba take an 80 percent stake, while energy company Brookfield is buying the remaining 20 percent.

The Japanese consumer electronics giant has been struggling to cover losses in its US nuclear power business. Westinghouse and other subsidiaries have seen a string of write-downs and delays. The firm’s stock was down 1.6 percent in Tokyo trading on Friday as investors remain concerned about its ability to repay creditors who extended credit lines last year to help it overcome financial troubles.

Toshiba bought Westinghouse for $5 billion in 2006 but took a hefty write-down on the US firm’s purchase price earlier this year after making two major nuclear reactor construction projects late and over budget in Georgia and South Carolina respectively. Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants.

Cameco Corporation is a Canadian uranium producer. It was founded in 1956. Cameco’s operations are based out of Toronto and Montreal. Cameco is currently the world’s largest publicly traded uranium producer outside of Kazakhstan.

Cameco, which has its head office in Saskatoon and is based in Toronto, said the acquisition would help it become the largest uranium producer outside of Kazakhstan and a key supplier of nuclear fuel to power plants around the world.

The deal will give Cameco ownership of the largest uranium production facility in North America at White Mesa Mill. By 2022, the company is expected to contribute more than $1 billion a year from its Crow Butte mine near Brady, South Dakota, and its Smith Ranch-Highland mine near Little Snake River Valley, Wyoming.

He added that Cameco had been keen to work with Westinghouse’s technology.

“We’ve been looking at this for a while,” Cameco’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, Steve Antony, said during an interview. “We want to be one of the major players in the nuclear power business.”

Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel manufacturing technology attracts Cameco’s attention. Because it would give the Canadian company more control over the supply chain and diversify. Its operations beyond uranium extraction, which has fallen out of favor among investors recently due largely to lower prices.

“It gives them more control over their destiny,” said John Pearson, an analyst at Dundee Capital Markets Corp. who rates Cameco shares as “buy. They’re struggling with investor sentiment around uranium.”

“That was what we were looking for as a company to get involved in nuclear power plants,” he told business news channel BNN in an interview.

Cameco wants to be a major supplier of Uranium, as well as Nuclear power plants. It also aims to be the largest uranium producer outside of Kazakhstan and a key supplier of nuclear fuel to power plants around the world.

Cameco wants more of the Nuclear power business.

“This acquisition represents a significant step in Cameco’s strategy to become. A key supplier of nuclear fuel to power plants around the world,” Cameco president and CEO Tim Gitzel said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Westinghouse as part of our growing portfolio of fuel services offerings.”

Westinghouse is the second-largest nuclear reactor maker behind French company Areva SA (AREVA). Which supplies about 25% of the world’s nuclear power plants. In addition to designing and building reactors. Westinghouse also produces fuel for its machines but has been looking for ways to expand. It’s business by offering more services like maintenance and waste disposal.

The plant’s owner, Toshiba Corp., agreed to sell the site to Brookfield Business Partners LP and its partners on Wednesday.

By Daniel Batalla

Sources:

Axios: Nuclear power giant Westinghouse being bought for $7.9 billion by Dan Primack

Benzinga: Cameco, Brookfield Renewable Come Together To Buy One Of Largest Nuclear Services Businesses By Vandana Singh

Morning Star: North American Morning Briefing: Caution Likely to Persist Ahead of CPI Release By Dow Jones

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