S.Korea's KEPCO in talks to buy Toshiba's stake in UK nuclear project NuGen
22/03/2017 06:15
SEOUL, March 22 (Reuters) - Korea Electric Power Corp
(KEPCO) 015760.KS is in talks to buy a stake in the
Toshiba-Engie British nuclear joint venture NuGen, chief
executive of the South Korean utility said.
Media reports late last year had said KEPCO was in talks
with Japan's Toshiba 6502.T and France's Engie ENGIE.PA for
a stake in NuGen, which plans to build three reactors at the
Moorside site on the coast of Cumbria and expects electricity
generation to start in 2025. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1BO2HV
Korea Electric Power Corp, or KEPCO, is interested in taking
over the 60 percent stake owned by the troubled Japanese company
Toshiba and has been negotiating informally, CEO Cho Hwan-eik
told local media reporters late on Tuesday.
"We will jump into (the deal) most quickly once its debt,
equity structure is determined," Cho said, adding that nothing
had been formalised yet as negotiations between the Japanese and
UK governments were not done.
KEPCO is also seen by industry executives as a potential
buyer of Toshiba's U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse. The South
Korean firm has said it would consider an approach by Toshiba.
The TVs-to-construction Japanese conglomerate is currently
grappling with a multibillion dollar financial maelstrom
stemming from Westinghouse's ill-fated purchase of a U.S.
nuclear power plant construction company in 2015. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1GR02Y
Toshiba has already put up most or even all of its prized
memory chip business for sale to cope with an upcoming $6.3
billion writedown related to cost overruns at the nuclear
business and to create a buffer for potential losses down the
road. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1GM3F1 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1GN154
South Korea, the world's fifth-biggest user of nuclear
power, has developed its own nuclear technology through KEPCO
and is keen to export its nuclear reactors. A KEPCO-led
consortium in 2009 won a contract to build four nuclear reactors
in the United Arab Emirates, which are under construction.
(Reporting By Jane Chung; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
((jane.chung@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5667; Reuters
Messaging: jane.chung.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA KEPCO/NUGEN