Framatome, advised by Jones Day, has signed a sale purchase agreement with Rolls-Royce to acquire its Civil Nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I&C) business, which has operations principally in France, and to a lesser extent China.

The transaction is expected to close at the beginning of the second half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals. In the meantime, the two companies remain independent and will continue to operate in the ordinary course.

“The purchase of the Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear I&C business aligns with our strategy to ensure the continuity of a strong skill base and to expand our footprint for long-term operations,” said Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome. “We are committed to helping our customers sustain their nuclear power plants as reliable and competitive sources of low-carbon electricity well into the future.”

Through this acquisition, Framatome will add to its engineering expertise, and expand its global capabilities in I&C systems. These systems serve as part of the “central nervous system” of a nuclear power plant and allow operators to control the reactor. Framatome will incorporate Rolls-Royce’s products and technologies, which are installed in 150 operating reactors worldwide, as part of its I&C portfolio. This transaction will allow Framatome to integrate all safety critical functions, to serve its clients and particularly the French nuclear plants.

“At Framatome, we are committed to growing our business and strengthening our I&C capabilities to serve our customers,” said Frédéric Lelièvre, senior executive vice president of Sales, Regional Platforms and the I&C Business Unit at Framatome. “This acquisition builds on our long history of providing nuclear operators with I&C solutions and positions us near customers for enhanced delivery and response to emerging needs.”   

Rolls-Royce has been involved in major nuclear programs worldwide. The company has provided analog and digital safety I&C systems for nuclear reactors of all types around the world.

The Jones Day team advising Framatome was led by Alexandre de Verdun (Paris), Leon Ferera (London), and Jessie C. Tang (Beijing), and included Matt R. Evans and Alexander Woodfield (both London) and Seth E. Engel (Paris).