U.S. Westinghouse Pushes Ahead With IPO on AI Boom and Trump’s Nuclear Support

[Financial News] Westinghouse Electric Company, the U.S. nuclear power plant company seeking a comeback after its 2017 bankruptcy, is moving ahead with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The effort is being fueled by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the strong backing of the Donald Trump administration.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 31st of last month, local time, that Westinghouse is preparing for a rebound, supported by rising power demand in the AI era and the Trump administration’s backing. According to WSJ, the company filed confidentially for an IPO last month, and the timing and size of the listing have not yet been finalized.
Founded in 1886, Westinghouse began as an electrical equipment company and later led the industry by building the world’s first commercial nuclear power plant after World War II. But it struggled as latecomers such as South Korea and Japan took market share in the global nuclear power plant market. In 2017, Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy after it could not absorb the ballooning costs of building the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia. In 2023, Brookfield and uranium miner Cameco, both Canadian companies, acquired Westinghouse for $8 billion, or about 11 trillion won.
WSJ analyzed the drivers behind Westinghouse’s IPO and pointed to the power shortage caused by the spread of AI data centers. Last month, Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York, signed an executive order suspending new data center construction for one year. Applications for data center projects totaling 12 gigawatts are currently pending on New York’s power grid, roughly equal to Portugal’s peak electricity demand.
Dan Sumner, CEO of Westinghouse, told WSJ that "there is essentially no realistic path to expanding AI infrastructure and achieving energy security without nuclear power."
Trump, who is pushing to expand nuclear power plants in the United States, plans to break ground on 10 nuclear plants by 2030 in order to raise installed nuclear capacity from about 100 gigawatts now to 400 gigawatts by 2050. The Trump administration is actively supporting Westinghouse, which holds AP1000 reactor technology, because it believes the company can help with this expansion effort.
David Nicholas, head of the U.S. asset manager Xpunds, said Westinghouse could be valued at $15 billion to $20 billion. "If investors assign value to the AP1000, a valuation above $20 billion is not out of the question," he said.
The Trump administration plans to raise Westinghouse’s valuation to more than $30 billion. Last October, it formed a partnership with Westinghouse shareholders to pursue $80 billion, or about 41 trillion won, worth of nuclear power plant construction in the United States. Under the deal, the U.S. government will provide regulatory support, including streamlined approvals, as well as financial backing such as low-interest loans. In return, it will receive a 20% stake if Westinghouse’s valuation exceeds $30 billion after the listing.
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