French state-controlled power utility Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) has agreed with the beleaguered nuclear company Areva SA (AREVA.FR) to value its nuclear reactor unit--in which the utility is buying a controlling stake--at a little above 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion), Les Echos newspaper reported Thursday.

EDF also has agreed to pay an additional sum to Areva, depending on the company's possible profits in the coming years, the newspaper said. It added that the government is considering injecting between EUR3 billion and EUR4.5 billion in Areva.

Spokeswomen at both companies declined to comment.

Last year, the French government, which controls about 85% of both Areva and EDF, announced a plan to rescue the nuclear firm by selling a controlling stake in the nuclear unit Areva NP--which accounts for about 45% of Areva's revenue--to EDF and then injecting capital to help get it back on its feet.

Areva said it needs as much as EUR7 million to balance its accounts.

Areva has lost money for the past four years, dogged by a tough market for nuclear reactors since the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. This made it more difficult to recover from a number of poor investment decisions over the past decade and big cost overruns on projects in France and Finland.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.lesechos.fr

Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 14, 2016 03:56 ET (08:56 GMT)