Italian nuclear energy firm newcleo, a scaleup that Stefano Buono founded in 2021 for developing fourth-generation nuclear reactors that use nuclear waste as fuel, said it retained Guggenheim Securities as financial and capital markets advisor and Davis Polk & Wardwell for counsel to list on Nasdaq after having signed a definitive business combination agreement with NewHold Investment Corp III (press release), a spac that launched its ipo in March 2025 after having raised 201.25 million US Dollars that included the full exercise of the greenshoe option from the underwriters (press release).

Further deal advisors are Goldman Sachs (lead placement agent), BTIG (placement agent and capital markets) and Loeb & Loeb (legal counsel of NewHold). The closing may take place in 2H26 after the approval of NewHold investors and the necessary regulatory go-aheads.

Italy’s newcleo will list on the ground of a pre-money equity value in the region of 2.4 billion US Dollars and expects to attract gross proceeds of 429 million that include 220 million of PIPE (private investment in public equity) and up to 209 million in cash from the Spac unless the SPAC’s shareholders make repayments and the contracts are not fully subscribed. The net resources that newcleo expects to raise amount to 374 million that will invest in its organic growth (investor presentation).

The pro-forma market capitalization of newcleo could be of 2.903 billion with a pro-forma enterprise value of 2.374 billion that include 22 million debt and cash of 551 million. The reference price is of 10 US Dollars per share with 290.3 million of pro-forma shares listed available for trading.

After the business combination newcleo’s current shareholders will keep 84.4% of the firm with a 100% rollover of their equity stake, PIPE investors will have 7.6%, NewHold subscribers 7%, and its founders 1.1%.

Kevin Charlton is the ceo of the Spac and previously acted as coo the three blank cheque companies that Hennessy Capital launched for carrying on the business combinations of NRC Group (+20% after 52 weeks from the launch), Daseke (+44%) and Blue Bird (+38%).

The 220 million PIPE attracted the oversubscription from undisclosed investors.

Tra list of newcleo’s current shareholders include Exor Ventures (the investment holding of the Agnelli-Elkann Family), Azimut, Walter Tosto, CERN Pension Fund, and Milan-listed Danieli.

Buono founded the company in 2021 and since then raised a total of 780 million from venture capital investors. In February 2026, newcleo said it raised 85 millioni further to the 40 million it fetched in 2025 (see here a previous post by BeBeez). These fundraisings are part of the second tranche for the Series A round that newcleo launched in 2023 with a one billion euros target (see here a previous post by BeBeez) after having closed the first 135 million tranche in October 2024 (see here a previous post by BeBeez).

Milan-listed firms Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche and Maire’s NextChem, Kairos Partners‘ Kairos Ventures ESG One, Indaco Ventures, Azimut Investments, the CERN Pension Fund, industrial company Walter Tosto, part of Italian-Romanian Tosto Group invested in newcleo (see here a previous post by BeBeez, a previous post by BeBeez  and a further post by BeBeez).  Maire and newcleo signed a joint venture and branded it as NEXT-N. Maire subscribed to a newclo’s capital increase and acquired 5% of the business (press release). Milan-listed Cementir Holding NV also invested in newcleo that signed a memorandum of understanding with Federbeton, the Italian Federation of the Cement and Concrete Industry, to explore potential synergies with such sector.

Luca Farina, the chairman of Orion Valves, said that his company invested in newcleo through Ecoline for the development of valves for fourth-generation nuclear power plants (Il NordEst). Buono, a CERN alumnus, previously founded Advanced Accelerator Applications and sold it to NYSE and Zurich-listed Novartis in 2018 for 3.9 billion US Dollars. The scientist created newcleo with CERN alumni Luciano Cinotti and Elisabeth Rizzotti. The scaleup signed strategic industrial partnerships with Milan-listed firms Saipem and Fincantieri and a joint venture con JAVYS for the deployment of up to four plants in LFR-AS-200 in Slovakia. Oklo Inc. will develop witn newcleo facilities for the production of advanced nuclear fuel in USA (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Furthermore, newcleo investito more than 70 million US Dollars in R&D for ENEA research centre of Brasimone that is working on the development of reactors OTHELLO and PRECURSOR.

BeBeez Private Data, the private capital database of BeBeez and FSI, monitors newcleo and its investors. Find out here how to subscribe for one month or one year or Click here for booking a demo videocall with BeBeez database manager