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Investing.com-- Tokyo Electric Power shares rose on Friday after Nikkei Asia reported that the company drew interest from Blackstone, SoftBank, and Apollo Global for a planned capital tie-up.
Tokyo Electric (TYO:9501) shares rose as much as 3% to 701.2 yen.
Nikkei reported on Thursday that Tokyo Electric had drawn interest from private equity firms for funding that could be worth more than 1 trillion yen ($6.3 billion), and that the company will now spend several months fielding offers and possible deal structures.
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U.S. funds Bain and KKR have also expressed interest, as has Japan Industrial Partners, which is considering a partnership with state-backed Japan Investment Corporation, the Nikkei reported.
Tokyo Electric is seeking private capital partners as part of a major restructuring plan aimed at reducing its massive decommissioning liabilities and exploring new growth opportunities, especially from data center demand in the artificial intelligence industry.
The restructuring is in part aimed at establishing more economic independence, as Tokyo Electric still reels from the fallout of the Fukushima disaster. The company is nursing years of massive losses stemming from clean-up and decommissioning costs, and is heavily dependent on government-backed funding.
The company restarted power generation at Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant in February, with the plant producing power for the first time in nearly 15 years. The company plans to restart commercial operations at the plant by next week.