British Nuclear Fuels, the owners of the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria, confirmed yesterday that it is to sell Westinghouse, its US nuclear power plant arm, and that it had been approached by 15 different potential buyers.
The possible bidders for Westinghouse are rumoured to include General Electric and Shaw Group of the US, Areva of France, Toshiba and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan, and several private equity groups.Many analysts expect a sale of Westinghouse to raise about £1bn (€1.47 billion) but Mike Parker, BNFL chief executive, dismissed this figure as speculation. Westinghouse generated annual sales of $2 billion and profits of $150 million, he said.
John Edwards, finance director of BNFL, which is owned by the UK government, said the group expected to receive bids "over the next few months". Rothschild is handling the sale for BNFL.
BNFL put out annual results showing a pretax loss of £471m, which Mr Parker said stemmed mainly from restructuring costs at the group and losses at its Magnox nuclear power stations.
Mr Edwards said the more positive attitude towards nuclear power around the world was likely to lead to increased business for Westinghouse. "The rising tide of interest in nuclear power will be reflected in the price we get for Westinghouse," he said.
Westinghouse is currently bidding against Areva and AtomStroyExport of Russia for a high-profile contract to build four new nuclear power stations in China.
The US is expected to increase its nuclear generation capacity in the coming years.
BNFL, along with the UK government, has been criticised for putting Westinghouse up for sale before it can fully take advantage of the revival in nuclear power generation.
