A start-up developing small nuclear reactors powered by radioactive waste plans to raise €1 billion (£890 million) this year. Newcleo, an Anglo-Italian venture, will tap new and existing investors as it expands on its plans for a lead-cooled reactor fuelled by waste derived from existing nuclear plants.
Stefano Buono, chief executive, said Newcleo, which raised €300 million last year, did not need the money just yet, “but we like to anticipate the need for funding a few years ahead”. Its backers include Exor, the investment vehicle of the Agnelli family, shareholders in Fiat owner Stellantis.
Newcleo’s reactors will output about 200MW — many times smaller than regular nuclear power stations such as Sizewell. The reactors at the new Hinkley Point C can output 1.6GW. But Newcleo’s reactors would be much cheaper to make, at about €1 billion each, and manufactured in a factory to enable rapid deployment.
“We want to deploy a fleet of reactors between 2032 and 2050,” Buono said.
Newcleo, based in London, was founded in 2021 and now employs 200 in the UK and Italy. It plans to hire a further 300 people in 2023.
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It is in discussions with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority about using waste from Sellafield as the primary ingredient of the fuel in its small reactors. “We could fuel our reactors for decades, maybe for hundreds of years, with existing nuclear waste in Sellafield,” Buono said.
Short-sellers make millions as Pantheon oil well hits the skids
Short-sellers have made a multimillion-pound fortune from their bets against oil explorer Pantheon Resources after it lost nearly half its £700 million value last week.
Muddy Waters, led by US-based investor Carson Block, and Viceroy Research have both recently taken out short positions in Pantheon. Short-sellers borrow shares and then sell them, with the aim of buying them back later at a lower price so they can make a profit on the difference.
On Friday, Pantheon revealed that its Alkaid 2 well in Alaska was blocked with sand and it would take longer than expected to unblock it. Its shares subsequently fell by about 43 per cent to 46.1p, wiping nearly £300 million from its stock market value.
A Pantheon spokesperson said: “I don’t understand the movement in the share price. People have focused on one aspect of a positive statement, which is the fact that a rig to unblock part of a 5,000ft-long pipeline will not arrive until January.”
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The spokesperson also pointed out that the well “represents less than 3 per cent of the resources the company has”. He added: “Management remains confident of the potential of the massive hydrocarbon system they have discovered.”
But Fraser Perring, who runs Viceroy, said: “The figures Pantheon publishes about its prospects are too good to be true. I don’t think the company is able to repay its debts. It has a large convertible bond.”
He concluded: “Pantheon has fundamentally misled investors about the opportunity in their acreage.”
In response to Perring, the Pantheon spokesperson said: “As a company well regulated by the London Stock Exchange, Pantheon stands by its statements.”
Building firm set for £350m sell-off
A company that built £50 million worth of accommodation for workers constructing the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset could be about to change hands for up to £350 million.
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City sources said the owners of Premier Modular, which also won a multi-million-pound contract for Covid-19 testing sites during the pandemic, are working with Australian investment bank Macquarie on “strategic options”.
Several private equity houses are thought to be interested in buying Premier Modular, whose majority shareholder is London-based investment firm Cabot Square Capital.
Bankers said Premier Modular, whose base is in East Yorkshire, could be worth between £250 million and £350 million.
Premier Modular, set up in 1956, became one of the UK’s largest makers of “offsite” houses and offices for large development schemes through takeovers, including the purchase of NetZero Buildings in 2021.
If Cabot Square Capital does proceed with the sale, it would be welcomed by City bankers as there was a dearth of deals during the second half of 2022. Fees earned by dealmakers fell to their lowest level since 2013.
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Last week, data provider Refinitiv said fees earned by bankers for work with UK businesses fell 42 per cent year-on-year to $5.2 billion.
Representatives for Cabot Square Capital and Premier Modular did not return calls seeking comment.
