By Maki Shiraki

Toshiba Corp is in the final stages of boosting its stake in British nuclear power firm NuGen to around 60 percent by buying a 10 percent stake from French utility GDF Suez SA, industry sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Toshiba would buy the stake from GDF Suez, which owns 50 percent of NuGen, for about 3 billion yen ($29 million), the Nikkei business daily reported earlier without citing sources.

The Japanese conglomerate could not be immediately reached for comment due to a national holiday.

Toshiba has been seeking control of NuGen to help guarantee a $14 billion deal for its Westinghouse unit to supply NuGen with three reactors, Chief Executive Hisao Tanaka said late last month.

Spanish utility Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC), which is selling assets to reduce debt, last month agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in NuGen to Toshiba for 85 million pounds ($140.12 million).

A controlling stake would allow Westinghouse, 87 percent-owned by Toshiba, to supply three of its AP1000 reactors for a NuGen power station in Sellafield in northwestern England, which will have the capacity to produce 3.6 gigawatts.