Canada uranium company sees ‘sustained and positive momentum for nuclear energy’
Canada-based uranium company Cameco has completed the acquisition of Westinghouse Electric in a partnership with Brookfield Asset Management and its Brookfield Renewable Partners affiliate and institutional partners.
Cameco now owns a 49% interest and Brookfield owns the remaining 51% in Westinghouse, one of the world’s largest nuclear services businesses and provider of the AP1000 reactor technology.
The total value of the acquisition was $8.2bn (€7.6bn), a statement said. This was adjusted from $7.9bn at the close of the deal to take account of working capital balances.
According to earlier reports, Brookfield Renewable Partners was expected to pay $2.3bn for its share while Cameco’s share was expected to cost $2.2bn, with $3.4bn in existing debt on Westinghouse’s balance sheet.
“We expect this acquisition will enhance Cameco’s participation in the nuclear fuel cycle at a time when there is tremendous growth on the horizon for our industry,” the company said.
Cameco president and chief executive officer Tim Gitzel said the business prospects for Westinghouse have significantly improved since the deal was first announced a year ago with an “undeniable sustained and positive momentum for nuclear energy around the world”.
He had said earlier that buying Westinghouse would give Cameco more direct access to customers that will need its fuel.
“We like to think of ourselves as more than just mining and this is just an extension of that,” Gitzel said. “We know what they do, and their business is very complementary to what we do.”
Brookfield Renewable Partners is a subsidiary of Canada’s Brookfield Corporation. Brookfield Business Partners, another subsidiary of Brookfield Corporation, had bought Westinghouse in 2018 as part of the nuclear company’s bankruptcy.
