Areva Partitions OL3 Liabilities From ‘New Co.’ and Areva NP

摘要

The massive liability of the Olkiluoto-3 (OL3) newbuild in Finland will be cordoned off from the remainder of Areva if the company succeeds in the restructuring plan it outlined this week. Although OL3 owner TVO signed a contract with Siemens and Areva NP, the French state-owned company’s reactor arm formerly known as Framatome, for the first-of-akind EPR at OL3, Paris is hoping to convince TVO to shift the French counterparty in that contract to Areva NP’s parent company Areva SA. Meanwhile, Areva SA plans to launch another subsidiary - at this point termed only “New Co.,” although rebranding consultants are likely considering other snazzy names - that would own all of Areva’s fuel cycle facilities, with similarly no exposure to OL3. The capital injection of ?5 billion ($5.6 billion) promised by the French government back in January would then be split between Areva SA, which will also be left with many of the company’s debts, and the ongoing New Co. concern (NIW Jan.29’16).