Rolls-Royce has signed an agreement to sell its civil nuclear instrumentation and control (I&C) business to Framatome to raise funds to support its post-pandemic recovery.
The I&C business includes all the Rolls-Royce activities and teams based in Grenoble (France), Prague (Czech Republic), Beijing and Shenzhen (China).
“No UK-based employees are impacted as this agreement does not include our UK civil nuclear business, or small modular reactor activities, which will continue contributing to the provision of low carbon power for the UK,” the company statement said.
Warren East, Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Officer, said: “This transaction marks a further simplification of our business and contributes towards our target to generate over GBP2bn ($2.67bn) from disposals, as announced on 27 August 2020. We also believe it represents the best outcome for this part of our civil nuclear operations and its people.”
The transaction is expected to be completed at the beginning of the second half of 2021, subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. In the meantime, the two companies remain independent and will continue to operate as normal. The I&C business will continue to deliver business commitments and customer satisfaction.
In 2019, the I&C business subject to the agreement had 550 employees and reported revenues of €94 million ($113.5m), which were consolidated within the results of our Power Systems business.
Rolls Royce had been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as around half of its income was derived from the hours airlines fly using its engines. The near total shutdown in air travel, sent shares in Rolls-Royce to record lows earlier this year.
