French state-owned power company EDF SA this week purchased Studsvik’s entire waste treatment operation, which includes sites in Sweden and the U.K., for about $44 million, the companies announced Wednesday.
Sweden-based Studsvik’s waste treatment business offers low-level radioactive waste processing services globally, with an emphasis on Europe, and in 2015 produced roughly $21 million in revenue, according to a press release. The transaction includes Studsvik’s waste treatment assets and facilities near Nyköping, Sweden, and the company’s metal recycling facility near Workington, U.K. In total, the business segment has more than 100 employees.
Studsvik said giving up ownership of waste treatment facilities will allow it to focus more on the other areas of its business: consulting services for nuclear waste management, plant decommissioning, and additional sectors of the nuclear and radiological industries; and fuel and materials technology, including software and services.
“With this transaction we believe that with EDF waste treatment has found a professional, long-term, solid investor who can develop the business better than we can do,” Studsvik President and CEO Michael Mononen said in a conference call Wednesday with reporters. “It also gives us additional cash that we can use for what we believe is the strategic direction for Studsvik going forward. It’s a very competitive environment. We cannot be world leaders in everything we do, so we need to narrow down our focus and work in niches and segments where we believe we can make a difference.”
Meanwhile, EDF has “taken a step in their ambition to become a significant service provider in waste treatment and decommissioning in Europe and then eventually on a larger scale,” Mononen said.
As part of the deal, EDF and Studsvik will collaborate on nuclear decommissioning and waste management projects. Mononen did not discuss this aspect of the deal during the call, and Studsvik Chief Financial Officer Pål Jarness said by email Thursday he could not offer additional details. EDF did not respond to a request for comment on the deal.
The sale, subject to licenses and permit approvals in Sweden, is expected to be finalized during the third quarter of this year. The waste treatment business will be a part of EDF SA subsidiary EDF Development Environment SA. “By combining Socodel, its subsidiary for waste treatment situated in France, and Studsvik assets, EDF will be able to offer a wide range of services in waste management and nuclear plant decommissioning and to strengthen its presence in Europe in this growing market,” Sylvain Grainger, who leads EDF’s decommissioning and radioactive waste management division, said in the release.
Studsvik’s nuclear and radiological consulting services produced just over $51 million in sales last year, in areas including decommissioning services, waste management, and site waste services. Nearly 80 percent of its business in 2015 came from the nuclear industry, but other customers included hospitals and oil and gas plants.
The company’s fuels and materials technology branch delivered just shy of $34 million in sales last year in businesses including nuclear fuel analysis software and services.
