French nuclear giant Areva is in talks with several foreign investors including sovereign funds to raise billions of euros in capital for expansion, the chief executive said Monday.
"We have several investors who have been chosen. They have all come to see us at Areva," said Anne Lauvergeon on BFM television.
"There are foreign investors. They are all interested in getting a stake and are in talks with the state about modalities and the price. There are sovereign funds, yes, absolutely," she said.
Press reports have cited Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and sovereign funds from Qatar and Kuwait as interested in a stake in Areva, which is 92 percent owned by the French state.
Lauvergeon said she was hoping to raise three billion euros (four billion dollars) to fund 12 billion euros in investments including a fourth-generation nuclear reactor to be launched in 2040.
The French government agreed in June to open up as much as 15 percent of Areva's capital to investors.
Last month, Areva sold its power transmission and distribution network to French firms Alstom and Schneider Electric, rejecting Japanese and US bids.
The world's largest builder of nuclear reactors suffered a blow last month when it lost a 20.4 billion-dollar project in the United Arab Emirates to a South Korean consortium.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
