US nuclear reactor company Westinghouse files for IPO
Brookfield-owned company plots listing nine years after cost overruns forced it into bankruptcy protection
Westinghouse Electric, the US nuclear reactor design and services firm, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering as it seeks to benefit from a revival in interest in nuclear power.
The Pennsylvania-based company, which is jointly owned by investment firm Brookfield and uranium producer Cameco, made the filing nine years after calamitous cost overruns at nuclear plants in Georgia pushed it into bankruptcy.
Westinghouse is the latest in a string of US nuclear energy companies to announce a public flotation, as they seek to cash in on a wave of investor appetite for a technology they hope will power the artificial intelligence boom.
The company is also benefiting from US government financial backing following Donald Trump’s pledge last year to slash regulation and invest tens of billions of dollars to reopen and build new fleets of reactors to provide the power needed to “win” the global AI race. Last month, the US Energy Department said it would commit to $17.5bn in loans to rebuild the country’s nuclear supply chain.
One person familiar with the decision said Westinghouse wanted to have access to a wider pool of capital to fund significant growth in the coming years.
This month Holtec International, one of America’s largest nuclear energy supply companies, filed for an IPO to raise money to help fund a $10bn plan to build small modular reactors. In April X-energy, a developer of SMRs, raised $1bn in a Nasdaq flotation and this month Standard Nuclear, a nuclear fuel manufacturer, filed to go public.
Last year, the US government announced a plan to build $80bn of new Westinghouse reactors in the US, using funding from Japan.
If the orders are placed before 2029, the US government will have the right to take 20 per cent of the equity of Westinghouse. This is also conditional on Westinghouse hitting a valuation of at least $30bn, and would be diluted down to about 8 per cent given the warrants attached to the deal.
Adam Stein, director of nuclear energy innovation at the Breakthrough Institute, a think-tank, said Westinghouse’s return from bankruptcy to the public markets was a “symbolic moment” and an indicator of the scale of the US nuclear renaissance.
“If the US plans to build more large reactors, Westinghouse’s AP1000 is the most likely option. The nuclear energy market is seeing an unprecedented level of investment that does not appear to be a passing phase,” he said.
Confidential filings allow companies to prepare for a listing away from public market scrutiny, and Westinghouse has not yet decided on the number of shares to offer or a price range.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Westinghouse built the world’s first commercial nuclear reactor in 1957 and six of its flagship AP1000 reactors are in operation today, with 14 more under construction. Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria have all placed orders since Brookfield bought the company from its previous owner Toshiba in 2018 for $4.6bn.
Cameco bought into Westinghouse at an enterprise valuation of $8.2bn in November 2023.