Westinghouse Electric Company, one of the most storied names in the American power industry, has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, it said on Friday, joining a wave of nuclear companies looking to tap capital markets. Investor enthusiasm for nuclear firms has strengthened in the past year as Big Tech’s rapid data center buildout boosts U.S. power demand. The nuclear technology and services supplier, which is jointly owned by Cameco and Brookfield Renewable Partners, is one of the few remaining lines of the original business founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse, who commercialized alternating current. Westinghouse built the world’s first commercial pressurized water reactor in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, in 1957. More than half of the nuclear reactors in operation around the globe use its technology, according to the firm. After several rounds of restructurings and changes in ownership over the last few decades, Cameco and Brookfield Renewable Partners bought Westinghouse Electric in a $7.9 billion deal in 2023. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined, Westinghouse said. The Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania-based company last month announced it is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy to strengthen the U.S. commercial nuclear supply chain. While blank-check deals had long been the main path to public markets for more speculative companies, issuers from sectors such as nuclear and quantum have started pursuing traditional IPOs this year. Confidential filings allow companies to keep their finances under wraps until closer to the listing and prepare for IPOs away from public market scrutiny. X-Energy XE.O and Standard Nuclear STDN.N are among the major nuclear companies that have gone public through traditional IPOs this year. Holtec Nuclear also filed for a New York IPO earlier this month. (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Leroy Leo)
