EU clears EDF takeover of Areva reactor business
BRUSSELS: EU ant i- trust regulators cleared the buyout of Areva’s troubled state- owned nuclear reactor business by EDF, the electricity supplier also owned by the French state.
Problem-prone Areva, which is 87-per cent owned by the French state, has faced severe difficulties since 2011, when the Fukushima disaster in Japan called nuclear power generation into question.
In Apr i l, Par is not i f ied the EU Commission of a big restructuring plan to save the national champion that included a previously approved 4.5 billion euros ( US$ 4.75 billion) payout from public coffers.
“The European Commission has approved EDF’s proposed takeover of New NP, the Areva Group’s nuclear reactors business, under the EU merger regulation,” said an official statement.
Areva’s woes have been compounded by construction problems affecting its first EPR reactor in Finland – now expected to open nine years late in 2018.
In addition, Areva’s former CEO Anne Lauvergeon has been charged in a case linked to the company’s disastrous 2007 purchase of a Canadian uranium mining firm.
EDF agreed in June 2015 to purchase up to 75 per cent of Areva’s reactor unit at a valuation of around 2.7 billion euros, with the deal expected to be finalised this year.
France sees nuclear energy as a key national industry and the government has been closely involved in talks to restructure the sector. — AFP