5 Jan (NucNet): Westinghouse Electric Company, the US nuclear engineering group that went into chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, has been sold by its owner Toshiba to Brookfield Business Partners, the private equity group, for $4.6bn (€3.8bn).
According to Brookfield, the deal is conditional on approval from the bankruptcy court and regulators around the world.
Brookfield is funding the acquisition with about $1bn in equity and $3bn in long-term debt, with the remainder coming from pension and environmental liabilities that it is taking on.
Cyrus Madon, Brookfield’s chief executive, said the group looked forward to “bringing our significant expertise and reputation as a long-term owner and operator of critical infrastructure in the US and globally, as well as our deep facilities management capabilities, to enhance the company’s position as a leading global infrastructure services provider to the power generation industry”.
Westinghouse was forced into bankruptcy after long delays and rising costs at the Vogtle and Summer AP1000 nuclear projects in the US, for which it was supplying the AP1000 reactor technology.
The company leading the Summer project, Scana of South Carolina, abandoned the development last year and on Wednesday announced that it had accepted a $14.6bn takeover bid from Dominion Energy.
The other project, Vogtle in Georgia, is still going ahead after state regulators gave their approval last month.
Brookfield said in a statement that Westinghouse had a strong market position as the largest service provider to nuclear power plants worldwide, earning the majority of its profits from long-term contracts.
It added: “An iconic American company, Westinghouse offers a full suite of specialised parts and components, many of which are licensed or patented, as well as industry-leading engineering and other services that enhance the safety, efficiency and reliability of its customers’ facilities.”
