(Reuters) - Britain, Germany and the Netherlands have asked prospective buyers for their jointly-owned nuclear fuel enrichment firm Urenco to submit indicative bids by year-end, sources familiar with the process said.
The governments, which each own a third of Urenco, have agreed to test the market's appetite for the world's second-largest nuclear fuel vendor before deciding whether to kick-start a privatisation process that could fetch up to 10 billion euros ($13 billion), said the sources.
Energy group Delta, which is still in the hands of Zeeland local authorities, has hired merchant bank Morgan Stanley to investigate a potential merger or sale, the Financieele Dagblad says on Wednesday.
'We are taking a broad approach,' a spokesman told the paper. 'We can continue as an independent, merge or be sold off, and that could involve an international company.'
The UK Government’s plans to raise £3bn from the sale of uranium enrichment group Urenco may have hit a stumbling block after it emerged that the Dutch government is understood to have raised concerns about the sale of its stake.
The Dutch and UK governments each own a third of Urenco, one of the world’s biggest uranium enrichment companies, while Germany’s top two utilities, RWE and E.ON, own the rest.
Ministers are looking to raise up to £3bn before the end of the year through the sale of the government's 33 per cent stake in Urenco, the uranium enrichment company, in one of the biggest privatisations in years.
The deal would be a relief to the Treasury, which hopes that a series of sales will put a dent in the country's towering debt. Royal Mail could also be sold this year, raising £3bn-£4bn.
FRANKFURT/AMSTERDAM, March 27 (Reuters) - Dutch nuclear reactor Borssele has been given permission to operate up to 2033, though the approval can still be contested, Dutch and German stakeholders said on Wednesday.
Started in 1973, the 500 megawatt plant is one of the oldest reactors in Europe. It is 70 percent owned by Dutch generator Delta, in turn owned by Dutch provincial authorities, and 30 percent by German utility RWE.
HOLLAND has dropped its historic opposition to a sale of Urenco, clearing the way for a full privatisation of the state-backed nuclear fuel maker.
The sudden change of heart came after several rounds of intergovernmental talks over the future of Urenco, which is owned by the governments of Britain and Holland and two German utility companies.
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Toshiba Corp. is weighing plans to bid for Urenco, the nuclear fuel producer backed by the U.K., the Netherlands and two German energy giants, the Sunday Times reports without citing sources.
The newspaper says the Japanese industrial giant, which owns the nuclear reactor builder Westinghouse Electric, wants to bid for the business if and when it comes on the market.
Urenco, which enriches uranium for nuclear fuel, is owned by the U.K. and Dutch governments and German firms RWE A.G. and E.ON S.E., who own a third each.
(Reuters) - The new Dutch government picked ABN Amro to advise on the future of its 33 percent stake in UK-based uranium enrichment company Urenco, three people familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday.
The previous government had hired Credit Suisse to examine its strategy regarding Urenco's ownership, but this mandate was not renewed after a government reshuffle in September and staff changes at the Swiss bank, one source said.
The Dutch authorities have turned down a request by the City of Ghent (East Flanders) to shut down the nuclear power station at Borssele (Zeeland).
The Borssele Plant is on the southern coast of the Zuid-Beverland peninsular and as such is only around 40km as the crow flies from the East Flemish city. The city authorities in Ghent had wanted the Dutch to close the reactor at Borssele to allow safety checks to be carried out.
A likely political coalition between the Netherland's pro-nuclear VVD party and the antinuclear PvdA party after Wednesday's inconclusive election result will almost certainly put plans for a new nuclear power station at Borssele on hold.
The center-right VVD party led the polls Wednesday with 26.5%. The center-left Labour PvdA party came a close second with 24.8%.
