The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition by the Japanese conglomerate Toshiba of nuclear interests Westinghouse Electric and BNFL USA. The Commission concluded that the merger would not significantly impede competition, subject to a Toshiba commitment to modify its contractual arrangements with other shareholders in its joint venture Global Nuclear Fuels.
The Commission found that the merger would combine two suppliers of nuclear power plants and related products whose activities are to a significant extent complementary, both technologically and geographically. Toshiba is focussed on nuclear power plants based on so-called boiling water reactors, mainly in Asia, whilst Westinghouse is active principally in pressurised water reactors.
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