Reply #10: Toshiba firm on selling just under half of Westinghouse

[EuroObserver]

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese electronics maker Toshiba says it is committed to selling just under half its stake in Westinghouse after its gigantic purchase of the US power plant maker. Toshiba has been warned by ratings agencies that it faces a potential downgrade as it foots a 5.4 billion-dollar bill to buy Westinghouse from British Nuclear Fuels in the biggest Japanese overseas acquisition in years.

Toshiba Corp President and Chief Executive Atsutoshi Nishida, meeting reporters in Tokyo on his return from the deal-signing in Britain, said the company sought only a majority stake. "The stake we will have in Westinghouse will be just about 51 percent. Even if it goes beyond that, we would not have a share like 70 percent or 80 percent," Nishida said.

He declined to specify who would buy the 49 percent share, but a Toshiba statement said it was looking at "US companies, a trading company and others." Britain's Financial Times has reported that the contenders include Japanese trading house Marubeni, conglomerate Mitsui and US engineering group Shaw.
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President George W. Bush's administration wants to relaunch construction of nuclear reactors in the United States as the cost of crude oil is soaring near record highs due to both geopolitical and supply concerns.

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