Santee Cooper to sell claims from Toshiba for failed nuclear project

(Reuters) - South Carolina utility Santee Cooper said it would sell the rights to its portion of a $2.17 billion settlement with Toshiba Corp at a discount to Citibank, as the utility looks to avoid risk associated with payment delays spread over five years.

Under the agreement, Citibank will pay 91.5 percent of the settlement claim and the company will receive $831.2 million on Wednesday for its 45 percent share, Santee Cooper said.

The South Carolina utilities, Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric Company, decided to abandon the twin-reactor project, V.C. Summer, in July, blaming the bankruptcy of project's contractor, Toshiba Corp's Westinghouse Electric Co.

The project was less than 40 percent complete with more than $9 billion having been spent on construction.

(Reporting by Anirban Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)