Areva plans to issue new shares to holders of certificates of investment

Areva SA, the largest supplier of nuclear reactors, plans to issue new shares to holders of certificates of investment as part of a capital increase.

Each holder of 12 investment certificates will be offered a new preferred stock, Areva, said in an emailed statement today. The measure adds to a plan approved by the supervisory board today to raise € 900 million ($ 1.2 million) by selling shares to the French state and a sovereign wealth fund Kuwait.

Kuwait to buy € 600 000 000 worth of stock, while France, which currently owns 91 percent of the company, received an additional 300 million euros, the company said. The Kuwaiti fund will have a seat on the council. Areva also carry out a stock split 10 to one, the statement said.

"These operations will allow the group to strengthen its assets and carry out its development plan with a strengthened capital structure," the statement said.

France has been in talks for a year to sell up to 15 percent of the company in Kuwait, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon had aimed to raise 3 billion euros in the capital to help finance spending on equipment, plants and uranium mines to fend off competition and sell more reactors and fuel in Europe, China and India .

Currently, the company also said it aims for revenue as high as 12 million euros in 2012.