DL E&C said the value of its stake in U.S. small modular reactor developer X-energy has surged nearly sixfold over three years after the company’s successful Nasdaq listing.
DL E&C said Tuesday that, following X-energy’s initial public offering, the value of its holdings rose to about 172 billion won. That compares with $20 million (about 30 billion won) invested in a Series C round in January 2023, a roughly 5.7-fold increase, it said.
The gain followed a sharp rise in X-energy’s share price after listing. X-energy began trading on Nasdaq on April 24 local time. Its IPO price was set at $23, above the top of the indicated range of $19. The stock closed at $29.20 on its first day and climbed about 50% over the next three sessions, reaching $34.11 as of April 28.
DL E&C said the IPO also set a record for fundraising by a nuclear power company, with X-energy securing more than $1 billion (about 1.475 trillion won). The industry has attributed rising SMR investment demand to growing electricity needs tied to the spread of artificial intelligence, the company said.
X-energy, backed by the U.S. Department of Energy, is developing a fourth-generation SMR and holds high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology that uses high-temperature helium gas for cooling. It is working with Amazon, Dow and Centrica and has secured an 11-gigawatt pipeline, DL E&C said.
DL E&C said it joined as an investor early and built a strategic partnership, aiming to make SMRs a next growth engine and create synergies with its plant business. It recently began broader cooperation by taking on X-energy’s standardized SMR design work. The contract signed last month is worth $10 million (about 15 billion won) and is the first case in which a South Korean construction company is paid directly by an SMR developer to carry out design work, it said.
DL E&C said it plans to strengthen capabilities across both large-scale nuclear plants and SMRs, building on its experience in projects including Hanbit units 5 and 6 and Shin Kori units 1 and 2.
SMRs are small reactors with electric output of 300 megawatts or less and are viewed as a technology that can support carbon neutrality while providing stable power supply. The U.K. National Nuclear Laboratory has forecast the global SMR market will reach about $500 billion (about 740 trillion won) by 2035.
Yoo Jae-ho, head of DL E&C’s plant business division, said, “As X-energy is being recognized with a high valuation in the market, we expect a virtuous cycle that leads to a rise in the value of our stake.” He added, “We will expand SMR-related investment to strengthen our global competitiveness.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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