In a $3 billion deal announced Monday, Chicago Bridge and Iron will purchase The Shaw Group, which holds construction contracts for four new reactors at the Vogtle and V.C. Summer nuclear plants.Chicago Bridge and Iron is also at work at those sites, holding contracts to weld the steel containment vessels for their new AP1000 reactors. According to its website, CB&I built three-fourths of the containment vessels at operating U.S. nuclear plants.Shareholders from both companies will vote on a deal that acquires Shaw for $41 per share, cash, plus $5 in CB&I equity based on a stock price of $38.81 per share. The offer represented a 72 percent premium on Shaw shares, based on their price Friday, although the stock price rose only 55 percent as of Monday afternoon, while CB&I's price fell by about 14 percent.The boards of both companies have approved the deal. The Netherlands-based CB&I plans to incorporate Shaw as a business sector named CB&I Shaw. In a release, Shaw CEO J.M. Bernhard Jr. said, “I am extremely proud of the company we have built and operated for the last 25 years. Shaw’s leadership position in the power, environmental and infrastructure industries will complement CB&I’s current business, and I am confident that, together, these two companies will continue to excel.” A Fortune 500 company, Baton Rouge, La.-based Shaw employs about 27,000. With Westinghouse, it is building four AP1000 reactors in China, in addition to the new units at Vogtle and Summer.
Well I can say that I feel a lot more confident that the job will be done with the upmost focus on nuclear safety with CB&I taking over Shaw's role in the construction on both job sites.