Uranium Miner Cameco to Purchase Stake in Westinghouse Electrical

(Bloomberg) — Uranium miner Cameco Corp. is shopping for a stake in nuclear-power large Westinghouse Electrical Co., teaming up with Brookfield Renewable Companions in a deal valuing the enterprise about $8 billion.

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Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco will personal 49% of the corporate, and Toronto-based Brookfield Renewable will personal a 51% stake, in response to an announcement Tuesday. Brookfield Enterprise Companions had purchased Westinghouse in 2018 as a part of the nuclear firm’s chapter reorganization.

The deal is the newest indication that huge buyers and governments see nuclear energy as a key participant within the battle in opposition to local weather change. Whereas some clean-energy advocates proceed campaigning for the tip of nuclear energy, proponents say it will likely be difficult to wean energy grids off fossil fuels with out it.

“That is our entry into the nuclear-power phase, which is we imagine a vital expertise for world grids to attain web zero,” Connor Teskey, chief govt officer of Brookfield Renewable, mentioned in an interview Tuesday.

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Cameco, North America’s largest uranium miner, struggled for years following the Fukushima catastrophe in Japan that led to the shuttering of many of the nation’s nuclear reactors in addition to prompting nations across the globe to rethink nuclear energy. Whereas the corporate’s shares have surged by about 190% for the reason that starting of 2020, Chief Government Officer Tim Gitzel mentioned earlier this yr that he wouldn’t quickly crank up manufacturing to chase “legendary” market demand.

Shopping for Westinghouse will give the corporate extra direct entry to prospects that may want its gas. “We like to consider ourselves as extra than simply mining and that is simply an extension of that,” Gitzel mentioned within the interview Tuesday. “We all know what they do, and their enterprise could be very complementary to what we do.”

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He expects the deal to be accretive to money circulation and earnings, however he declined to supply numbers. Cameco fell about 12% in late buying and selling Tuesday in New York.

Cameco dedicated $2.2 billion in fairness towards the acquisition. Brookfield Renewable’s $2.3 billion fairness stake will likely be funded by the Brookfield International Transition Fund, the corporate and the fund’s restricted companions.

(Updates with quotes from CEOs in fourth and sixth paragraphs.)

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