Japanese chipmaker Toshiba Corp (TYO:6502) on Wednesday said it will pay some JPY125bn (USD1.6bn/EUR1.2bn) to buy the 20% in nuclear power plants firm Westinghouse Electric Co owned by Shaw Group Inc (NYSE:SHAW), after the US engineering company had notified it of having exercised its put option for the stake.
Under an agreement with Toshiba, Shaw exercised its option on 6 October with the Japanese group to buy the stock 90 days after that date by January 2013. Toshiba said it will pay cash from existing cash reserves and, or loans for the Westinghouse stake which will bring its total interest in the nuclear power plants firm to 87%.
The Japanese group bought Westinghouse in partnership with Shaw and IHI Corp (TYO:7013) for USD5.4bn (EUR4.2bn) in 2006, securing then an option to buy out Shaw’s stake by January 2013.
The Japanese group said it had been approached by parties interested in potentially taking a stake in Westinghouse. Toshiba, which sees a partnership to help reinforce Westinghouse’s business, said it was willing to negotiate a deal that would allow it to remain majority owner.
Westinghouse is currently building four AP1000 nuclear reactors in the US and another four in China and since the takeover by Toshiba it has established operations in the US, Asia, Europe and Middle East. Shaw is taking part in the AP1000 projects in the US and China, with Toshiba will pick future plant engineering partners on a project-by-project basis after the US group exits Westinghouse.
Meanwhile, Westinghouse will continue to work towards further growing its global sales volume, Toshiba said.
