Cameco Corp. CCO-T shareholders are expected to share in the company’s massive win on an investment in Westinghouse Electric Co., with the Saskatoon-based uranium miner poised to boost dividends after a planned Westinghouse initial public offering.
Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse, one of the world’s leading nuclear reactor manufacturers, is moving forward on an IPO this fall that analysts estimate will value the company at between US$30-billion and US$50-billion.
Westinghouse is going public as global demand for nuclear power soars. In July, the company reported utilities around the world have ordered up to 91 of its flagship Advanced Passive 1000 reactors, known as the AP1000, for delivery over the next two decades.
The stock market debut and premium valuation will mean major gains for joint owners Brookfield Renewable Partners and Cameco, which acquired Westinghouse in 2023 for US$8.3-billion, including assumed debt.
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In late July, the two owners announced plans to list Westinghouse on a U.S. stock exchange. The company hired at least five investment banks to lead the offering, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Brookfield Renewable, a subsidiary of Brookfield Corp., owns a 51-per-cent stake in Westinghouse and Cameco holds 49 per cent.
Westinghouse had filed for bankruptcy before Brookfield’s private equity arm bought the company from Toshiba Corp. for US$4.6-billion in 2018.
If Westinghouse does go public, analysts say Cameco is expected to return part of the proceeds from any sale of its stake to shareholders, by raising its common stock dividend.
Cameco doubled its common stock dividend between 2023 and 2025, boosting the payout from 12 cents per share to 24 cents. The increase came a year ahead of the company’s target.
Cameco’s board of directors said it raised dividends in part because Westinghouse made its first cash payment to its owners in 2025, with the miner receiving US$220.5-million. Early this year, Westinghouse handed an additional US$49-million to Cameco.
“We anticipate further improvements to dividends ahead,” said analyst Orest Wowkodaw at Bank of Nova Scotia in a recent report. He projected Westinghouse’s reactor sales and Cameco’s rising uranium production will result in a fivefold increase in the mining company’s free cash flow, to $1.3-billion in 2028.
Brookfield Renewable is also expected to benefit from Westinghouse’s public market debut. In a report, analyst Nelson Ng at RBC Capital Markets said the company will “benefit from growing demand for carbon-free baseload generation and potential valuation uplift from an IPO.”
Westinghouse is going public with orders for 22 AP1000 reactors from U.S. clients, including two units earmarked for the restart of the V.C. Summer power plant in South Carolina, a Brookfield-led project. The company has also sold seven of the reactors to customers in Poland, Bulgaria and Ukraine.
“Timelines and valuation remain uncertain at this point, but we do recognize the potential for a significant valuation should the stated new build pipeline materialize in the 2030s,” mining analyst Katie Lachapelle at Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets said in a report. She predicted an “uplift” in Cameco’s stock price as more details emerge on Westinghouse’s IPO plans.
Westinghouse is also rolling out new power plant technology, including small modular reactors and micro reactors. In a report on Cameco, analyst Andrew Wong at RBC Capital Markets said the development costs on these projects are “relatively moderate” at roughly US$1.2-billion.
“We view Westinghouse as a unique asset with no direct publicly-traded peer which justifies a premium valuation,” Mr. Wong said. Since Mr. Wong published his report, RBC Capital Markets has placed Cameco on what is known as a restricted list and stopped releasing research reports, a common move when an investment bank is doing corporate finance work for a client, such as advising on an IPO.
Westinghouse selected Wall Street banks Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to lead its IPO, along with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the investment banking arms of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Royal Bank of Canada, according to media reports.