Toshiba Would Increase Share Of Power Venture

Toshiba Corp., one of Japan's biggest diversified electronics companies, is aiming to buy a majority stake in U.K. nuclear consortium NuGeneration Ltd. as it looks to foreign demand after interest at home waned following a nuclear accident in 2011.

Toshiba President Hisao Tanaka on Thursday said the company is in talks to buy part of the 50% stake that GDF Suez SA has in the NuGen venture, in addition to its planned acquisition of 50% of the consortium from Spanish utility Iberdrola SA. NuGen is a 50-50 venture between Iberdrola and France 's GDF Suez.

Mr. Tanaka didn't specify the percentage Toshiba plans to buy from GDF Suez.

"Our plan is to hold a majority stake in NuGen," he said. "But we are not going to take 100%. We would like GDF Suez to remain as the operator," he told reporters.

The Japanese company, which makes everything from flash-memory chips to medical devices, is looking to revitalize its nuclear power business following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which eroded demand in Japan . Interest in nuclear power has also waned in North America because of the cheap natural-gas supply.

Unlike some of its continental neighbors, Britain is moving to expand nuclear power, luring Asian nuclear power plant makers. Japan 's Hitachi Ltd. bought 100% of the Horizon Nuclear Power project in the U.K. last year, aiming to build its own nuclear reactors. China General Nuclear Power Group and the China National Nuclear Corp. are joining with French utility EDF on a separate British nuclear power plant project.

The plan to build a large nuclear power station in northern England also comes as the U.K. government focuses on building nuclear projects to help meet greenhouse gas emission-reduction targets. Aging coal plants and old nuclear reactors are also set to be decommissioned over the next decade.

Toshiba aims to build three units of its 1-gigawatt reactor called AP1000 through its U.S. unit Westinghouse. Mr. Tanaka said Toshiba expects the value of manufacturing and building the three units to be around 1.5 trillion yen ($14.38 billion).

Mr. Tanaka said on Thursday that his company is still negotiating details of its NuGen acquisitions with Iberdrola, GDF Suez and the U.K. government. NuGen wasn't immediately available to comment. On Monday, Iberdrola said Toshiba would buy its 50% stake in NuGen for GBP 85 million ($139 million).

Toshiba, unlike its peers in Japan 's struggling electronics industry, has remained profitable for the past three fiscal years, helped by strong demand for its flash-memory chips and power-equipment business.