Brookfield looking to sell Westinghouse

Westinghouse has been an extremely profitable investment for Brookfield, according to Litvak’s piece, which quotes Cyrus Madon, Brookfield’s chief executive officer: “Look, we’ve made many times our investment in Westinghouse. We’ve already pulled out more than our invested capital just through regular dividends. And I would say our job is sort of done here.”

Brookfield agreed in January 2018 to buy Westinghouse from Toshiba for approximately $4.6 billion. Westinghouse had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2017 as a result of losses from the Summer and Vogtle nuclear construction projects. The company emerged from Chapter 11 in August 2018, following completion of the sale.

Last year, Brookfield sought out potential buyers for a minority stake in Westinghouse, and while some interest was generated, no sale resulted.

“Now, the situation is different,” Litvak writes. “With all the ‘significant tailwinds that have become more apparent for Westinghouse’ [another Madon quote]—those include work being done inside the company and the confluence of global concerns, such as climate change and Europe’s desperation to break up with Russian energy—Brookfield now wants to sell its entire interest in Westinghouse.”