13 Aug (NucNet): Kazakhstan uranium supplier Kazatomprom has signed an agreement with Toshiba Corporation to become an indirect minority shareholder in Toshiba’s US-based Westinghouse Electric Company.
Toshiba will transfer 10 percent ownership of Westinghouse’s holding companies to Kazatomprom, at a price of 540 million US dollars (USD) (395 million euro).
Toshiba will continue to control Westinghouse, owning 67 percent of Westinghouse through holding companies in the US and the UK. The Shaw Group, a US engineering firm, owns 20 percent of Westinghouse and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI), a Japanese heavy apparatus manufacturer, owns three percent.
Toshiba and Kazatomprom said in a statement today they have “identified various opportunities and agreed to study specific collaboration projects as strategic partners”.
Kazakhstan, which is the third biggest producer of uranium in the world after Australia and Canada, plans to become the largest by 2010 and boost its share of Japan’s market from one percent to about 30 percent.
Kazatomprom has said it plans to increase uranium production from around 3,749 tonnes of uranium in 2004 to as much as 15,000 tonnes of uranium annually in 2010.
The US and Kazakhstan have a long-standing treaty for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and Japan and Kazakhstan also agreed in April this year to reinforce a strategic partnership.
The statement said the alliance of Toshiba, Kazatomprom and Westinghouse will contribute to nuclear energy collaboration among the three countries and also to the expansion of nuclear power generation.
Toshiba bought Westinghouse Electric Company from British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) in February 2006. Toshiba invested more than USD 4 billion in acquiring a 77 percent share of Westinghouse, giving it management control of the company.
Toshiba said at the time the acquisition would substantially expand the scale of its nuclear systems business.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Toshiba Confirms USD 5.4 Billion Westinghouse Acquisition (News No. 30, 6 February 2006)
Toshiba Completes Acquisition Of Westinghouse (World Nuclear Review No. 42, 20 October 2006)
Russia And Kazakhstan Sign Siberia Uranium Centre Agreement (World Nuclear Review No. 20, 18 May 2007)
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