Power Developer One Nuclear to Go Public in US Via SPAC Deal
(Bloomberg) -- One Nuclear Energy LLC has agreed to go public through a merger with a blank-check company in a deal that valued the developer of nuclear and natural gas power plants at about $1 billion on an equity basis.
The transaction is expected to raise as much as $210 million to help the company develop about 2 gigawatts of gas capacity by 2028, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026 and One Nuclear plans to trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol ONE.
One Nuclear is initially developing power plants at two sites, in Texas and Oklahoma, and is in talks to deliver electricity primarily to data-center customers. The company plans to install gas systems first and will later pursue nuclear energy.
Chief Executive Officer Richard Taylor said booming energy demand in the US means the company needs to deliver power as soon as possible.
“We’re building baseload power for the AI economy” Taylor said in an interview. “They want the fastest route to energy, and gas provides the fastest route to energy.”
Shares of nuclear firms, including those that produce no energy and have no reactors, have been buoyed this year by the boom in artificial intelligence and the data centers supporting it, driving demand for new power sources. Still, there’s been some recent concern about market froth.
One Nuclear has an agreement to procure gas-powered reciprocating engines from Rolls-Royce Plc. The company is looking at several potential partners to supply small, modular reactors, technology that is still being developed for commercial use. Taylor, who said the company has been internally funded, expects to begin supplying nuclear power by 2034.
The company is going public through a merger with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VII. It’s evaluating multiple other US sites for additional power plants, which it expects to develop, own and operate.
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