Babcock International To Buy UKAEA For £50m

18th September 2009

The UK government has agreed a deal for UKAEA Ltd, its up-for-sale commercial nuclear clean-up business, with Babcock International for £50million according to various sources this week.

The government and UKAEA have said the sale was to allow UKAEA to compete for nuclear decommissioning work around the world. Peter Mandelson, business secretary, described it "generates good value for taxpayers."

The £50m price tag was at the upper end for the business and includes net cash of GBP11.6m on UKAEA Ltd's balance sheet. The group has a current turnover of £32m.

"The deal will help give UKAEA Ltd greater commercial focus on its operations," said Lady Judge, who chairs the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

"The high level of skills and expertise in UKAEA will further accelerate the growth of our Nuclear business," said Peter Rogers, chief executive of Babcock.

The deal will further deepen the links between the defence and energy support services group and the government.

The two groups are also involved with Britain's fourth-largest decommissioning project at Dounreay.

The deal is the latest step in a long-term government project to sell-off most of government's nuclear assets to the private sector.