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Cameco Corp.
and
said they will buy Westinghouse Electric Co. in a deal that will boost nuclear power, an energy resource reinvigorated by the need to reduce the use of carbon-based fuels.
The Canada-based companies said Tuesday that they are forming a strategic partnership to acquire the nuclear-services business. Brookfield Renewable, with its institutional partners, will own a 51% interest in Westinghouse and Cameco will own 49%, they said.
The total enterprise value for Westinghouse is roughly $7.88 billion, the companies said, which includes an estimated $4.5 billion in equity and the rest in debt.
The consortium will buy Westinghouse from
LP, an entity that
uses to operate the business services and industrial operations of its private-equity group. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of next year.
The deal is expected to create an opportunity for growth across the nuclear sector, the companies said. Westinghouse services about half of the nuclear-power reactors in the world. Cameco is the world’s largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Brookfield Renewable Partners owns and operates renewable-power assets and is 60%-owned by Brookfield Asset Management.
Cameco said it has enough liquidity to finance its share of the deal. It plans a bought deal offering to sell $650 million worth of stock, priced at $21.95 a share, according to a statement released Tuesday afternoon. Cameco shares dropped 12% to $22.70 in after-hours trading.
Westinghouse fell into bankruptcy in 2017 because of bad bets building nuclear-power plants. Brookfield Business Partners bought the company in 2018 from
Toshiba Corp.
for $4.6 billion, marking Brookfield’s entry into the nuclear-power business.
Brookfield Business Partners said it expects to generate about $1.8 billion in proceeds from the sale of its 44% stake in Westinghouse, with the balance distributed to institutional partners. Including distributions, Brookfield Business Partners is expected to log $4.5 billion in total profit from its four-year investment in Westinghouse.
Shares of Brookfield Business Partners gained 13.2% to $21 in after-hours trading.
Westinghouse was founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was once one of the most iconic brands in the U.S., with an industrial portfolio rivaling
General Electric Co.
The Pittsburgh-based company branched out into radio broadcasting in the 1920s and designed and built the world’s first commercial nuclear-power plant in the 1950s.
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Appeared in the October 12, 2022, print edition as ‘Westinghouse Electric to Be Sold.’
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