THE FUTURE of Thames Water is once again uncertain following the announcement that its preferred bidder will no longer be going forward with funding.
The water utilities provider has announced that KKR, which had been chosen as its preferred candidate to invest in the company’s future, is no longer set to go ahead with the deal.
KKR, a private equity group based in New York, was set to take a stake in Thames Water worth £4 billion as part of a plan to quell the supplier’s struggles with nearly £20 billion’s worth of debts.
The plans would see around £8 billion in reductions
Thames Water conducted checks following the investment proposal, including diligence checks and a more detailed breakdown of plans– and a deadline was put in place for those plans to be submitted to regulator Ofwat.
The deadline passed last Friday, May 30, however, and now it has been announced that the company would “not be in a position” to proceed.
Thames Water is now in a race to secure another deal before the deadline for a plan arrives at the end of June.
The drop-out has seen a reiteration of interest from other prospective investors, including Castle Water, who said it was still “ready, willing, and able” to support the business.
It comes just days after the supplier was issued fines of over £120 million, including a first-of-its-kind penalty issued for breaking dividend rules.
