GENERAL FUSION TO BECOME FIRST PUBLICLY TRADED PURE-PLAY FUSION COMPANY THROUGH BUSINESS COMBINATION WITH SPRING VALLEY ACQUISITION CORP. III (Form 8-K)

GENERAL FUSION TO BECOME FIRST PUBLICLY TRADED PURE-PLAY

FUSION COMPANY THROUGH BUSINESS COMBINATION WITH SPRING VALLEY ACQUISITION CORP. III

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - January 22, 2026 - General Fusion Inc. ("General Fusion" or the "Company") is a groundbreaking fusion leader with a 20-year track record of advancing fusion technology, including the development, construction, and operation of the first large-scale Magnetized Target Fusion ("MTF") demonstration machine. Today, the Company announces that it has entered into a definitive business combination agreement (the "Business Combination Agreement", and the transactions contemplated by that agreement, the "Proposed Business Combination") with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III (NASDAQ: SVAC) ("SVAC"). Upon closing, the Proposed Business Combination is expected to result in General Fusion listing on the Nasdaq and trading under the ticker symbol "GFUZ".

Company Overview

General Fusion's technology is designed to solve barriers to entry for fusion energy, which comes at a critical time as demand for electricity is surging and nations around the world race to commercialize fusion power. As a technology, MTF is intended to achieve fusion in a practical way, avoiding superconducting magnets and high-powered lasers, and enabling the use of existing materials for durable machines that would produce cost-effective energy.

In early 2025, General Fusion announced that it had designed, built, and begun operating its world-first fusion demonstration - Lawson Machine 26 ("LM26") - in under two years. LM26 is the first MTF demonstration machine to be built at a commercially relevant scale; it mechanically compresses plasma with a lithium liner at 50% commercial-scale diameter and aims to achieve key fusion technical milestones: 1 keV, or 10 million degrees Celsius heating; 10 keV, or 100 million degrees Celsius heating; and ultimately the Lawson criterion, the combination of fusion parameters that can produce net fusion energy in the plasma.

General Fusion intends to use proceeds from this transaction to advance the LM26 program with the goal of demonstrating and de-risking MTF technology in a commercially relevant way.

Management Comments

"General Fusion has a 20-year track record of creating and advancing the fusion technologies that we believe will address one of humanity's biggest challenges: meeting the urgent and growing demand for energy while delivering clean, sustainable, reliable baseload power," Greg Twinney, CEO of General Fusion, said. "The fusion era is now, and we've ushered it in through decades of innovation and teamwork. That's what's made us one of only a handful of private fusion companies with real-world, meaningful fusion results on the path to commercial viability and why we're set to become the world's first publicly traded pure-play fusion company. This announcement and PIPE financing are the next step in our journey to bringing fusion energy to the grid."

Chris Sorrells, Chairman and CEO of SVAC, said, "Demand for energy is skyrocketing, and the power sources available to us today aren't up to the task. We strongly believe fusion is going to play a key role in our future. When we looked at the players in the space, General Fusion was an easy choice for us, because we believe this company has both the technology in LM26 and the team that's needed to reach commercialization and bring the world's energy grids into the future."

General Fusion is led by CEO Greg Twinney, who has more than 20 years of experience commercializing new technologies. He has helped guide multiple companies through IPOs and M&A transactions, including Real Matters, Kobo, and Opalis.

The Company's Chief Strategy Officer, Megan Wilson, has more than 25 years in operations and energy leadership, previously serving as CSO and SVP at Babcock & Wilcox, as well as a surface warfare officer and nuclear engineering officer in the U.S. Navy.

Founded by its Chief Science Officer, Dr. Michel Laberge, the Company is also backed by a science and technology advisory committee chaired by Tony Donné, former CEO of EUROfusion, as well as senior advisors, including Bob Smith, the former Chairman and CEO of Blue Origin.

SVAC is led by Chairman and CEO Chris Sorrells, a former partner at NGP Energy Technology Partners with more than three decades of experience in the energy and decarbonization sectors. The Spring Valley team utilized a prior SPAC to bring nuclear-related NuScale Power public, which resulted in the first publicly traded company focused on small modular reactors. Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. II also has a pending deal with Eagle Energy Metals, which owns the largest deposit of uranium in the United States. In addition, Chris was the lead investor behind the creation of the Renewable Energy Group, which Chevron purchased for US$3.15 billion, a 6x return post-IPO, and the team at Spring Valley, including Rob Kaplan, Jeff Schramm, David Buzby, Deb Frodl, and Rich Thompson, have worked on multiple first-of-a-kind IPO transactions over the past 30 years.

Market Tailwinds

The International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook for 2025 estimates demand for electricity will grow between 40% and 50% by 2035 due to an increase in the global use of household appliances and the growth of advanced manufacturing and other light industry, including electric mobility, data centers, and electric heating. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates the total energy use from data centers alone will double or even triple by 2028.

The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates fusion plants could deliver four times more energy per unit of fuel than fission, and nearly four million times more energy than the burning of coal or oil. Additionally, several factors drive fusion's expected competitive levelized cost of energy, including the production of less waste, the use of fuels that cost less, and a comparatively lower regulatory burden from governments versus other forms of energy as detailed in the 2025 Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy+ report.

Proposed Business Combination Overview

The Proposed Business Combination between General Fusion and SVAC implies an approximately US$1 billion pro-forma equity value inclusive of approximately US$105 million from a committed and oversubscribed PIPE and US$230 million of SVAC's trust capital (assuming no redemptions).

The Proposed Business Combination brings together leaders with deep expertise in nuclear energy and capital markets. The Proposed Business Combination is expected to be completed in mid-2026, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory and shareholder approvals. The combined public company is expected to be named "General Fusion" and to have its common stock and warrants to purchase common stock listed on the Nasdaq, subject to satisfaction of the exchange's listing requirements. The Proposed Business Combination has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of General Fusion and the board of directors of SVAC.

Additional information about the Proposed Business Combination, including a copy of the Business Combination Agreement, will be provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by SVAC with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available on the General Fusion investor relations page and at www.sec.gov.

Investor Presentation

General Fusion and Spring Valley management will host an investor presentation on January 22, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

To listen to the webcast, please visit www.generalfusion.com.

Advisors

Cohen & Company Capital Markets, a division of Cohen & Company Securities, LLC, is the exclusive financial advisor, lead capital markets advisor and private placement agent to SVAC. Greenberg Traurig, LLP and Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP are serving as legal counsel to SVAC, and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP are serving as legal counsel to General Fusion. Solebury Strategic Communications is serving as investor relations and public relations advisor for the Proposed Business Combination.

About General Fusion

General Fusion is pursuing a fast and practical approach to commercial fusion energy and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The Company was established in 2002 and is funded by a global syndicate of leading energy venture capital firms, industry leaders, and technology pioneers. Learn more at www.generalfusion.com.

About Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III

Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III is a part of a family of investment vehicles formed for the purpose of acquiring or merging with a business focused on the energy and decarbonization industries. Over the past 5 years, Spring Valley has raised $690 million in three IPOs. Spring Valley I successfully completed its business combination with NuScale Power, a leading U.S. small modular reactor ("SMR") technology company, and Spring Valley II has announced a pending merger with Eagle Energy Metals, a next-generation nuclear energy company that combines domestic uranium exploration with proprietary SMR technology. SVAC maintains a corporate website at https://sv-ac.com.

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