The sale is part of Areva’s plan to fund €7bn in expenditure and settle debt by 2017. As part of this plan, the company intends to sell assets worth €400m, and raise €3.4bn.
EDF is seeking partners to sell a minority stake in Areva NP; however, the company plans to retain its 75% stake in the nuclear arm if potential joint venture partners do not come up.
EDF chief Jean-Bernard Levy was quoted the Wall Street Journal as saying: "If we don’t find other partners we could end up with 75%, but we think that after preliminary contacts we had and after potential partners have shown interest and Areva NP is a wonderful company…we think we will reach a tripartite situation."
Under the arrangement, EDF and Areva will create a joint venture, to design and market new nuclear reactors.
"In accordance with the guidelines set by the French government, this new collaboration between EDF and Areva will bring an improved efficiency of our cooperation and increases the chances of success of our major international nuclear projects." Lévy added.
EDF is expected to submit a binding offer for the reactor unit in Q4, following the completion of due diligence, reported Reuters.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2016.
The deal is subject to outcome of a reactor vessel evaluation, which was prompted after French regulator identified certain faults, reported Bloomberg.
Built by Areva, the vessel is designed for EDF’s nuclear plant in Western France.
Image: Areva headquarters in Courbevoie, France. Photo: courtesy of Olivier Passalacqua / Wikipedia.
