Brookfield looking to sell Westinghouse

May 11, 2022, 12:00PMANS Nuclear Cafe

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Anya Litvak reported yesterday that Brookfield Business Partners, a subsidiary of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and an owner of Westinghouse Electric Company, is ready to sell the nuclear energy firm.

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.”


Related Articles

Vogtle-4 enters commercial operation

April 29, 2024, 9:32AMNuclear News

Unit 4 at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle has entered commercial operation, the company announced today. The new unit can produce enough electricity to power an estimated 500,000 homes and...

Vogtle-4 hits start-up milestone

February 15, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

Georgia Power’s Vogtle-4, located near Waynesboro, Ga., reached initial criticality this week, hitting a major milestone in the start-up of the reactor.The company announced the news on...

Czech Republic to build 4 new reactors

February 1, 2024, 7:00AMNuclear News

The Czech government is looking to accelerate the pace at which it is adding nuclear energy to its grid. Officials announced yesterday that it plans to build up to four nuclear...