Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said Monday it offered to buy US nuclear power plant builder Westinghouse amid falling demand for Japanese firms to make reactors at home.
"Mitsubishi Heavy has notified British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) of our intention to buy Westinghouse," a spokesman for the Japanese company said. BNFL is Westinghouse's parent firm and said July 1 it was putting the US company up for sale.
"We are now examining various takeover approaches, including ones to ally with other firms," the spokesman said.
"We believe Mitsubishi Corp. is a strong candidate among takeover partners," he added.
Mitsubishi Heavy has offered to pay 200 billion yen (1.8 billion dollars) for the US company, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, which reported the bid at the weekend.
Apart from Mitsubishi, France's Areva, the world's largest nuclear engineering group, and US giant General Electric are also interested in acquiring Westinghouse, according to the business daily.
Demand in the sector has levelled out in Japan as fewer communities accept hosting nuclear reactors following a series of high-profile accidents.
Domestic heavy machinery makers such as Mitsubishi Heavy, Hitachi and Toshiba are aiming to expand their nuclear power operations abroad, amid rising global demand for energy.
