A minority stake in a new £20bn nuclear power station on England’s east coast will be sold to institutional investors or floated on the stock market under UK government plans to oust China’s CGN from the project.
The government is closing in on a deal which would force state-owned CGN to give up its 20 per cent stake in the proposed Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk.
Under the plans, the government would hold the stake until it could be sold on to institutional investors, according to people briefed on the situation. Another option to float the stake on the stock market through an initial public offering is also being examined, said these people.
The Financial Times reported in July that British ministers were exploring ways to remove CGN from future nuclear projects in the UK, including the Sizewell plant, following a cooling in relations between London and Beijing.