Hong Kong giant CKI demands to rejoin auction of stricken Thames Water

The Hong Kong-based capitalist CK Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) is demanding to beryllium readmitted to the auction of ailing Thames Water, days aft its preferred bidder walked distant and pushed it person to the abyss of nationalisation.

Sky News tin exclusively uncover CKI wrote to Sir Adrian Montague, the president of Thames Water, connected Monday, seeking entree to owed diligence materials and insisting it could beryllium acceptable to array a ceremonial bid to instrumentality power of the institution wrong six weeks.

In the letter, which was signed by Andy Hunter, CKI's lawman managing director, the proprietor of Northumbrian Water said it was keen to rejoin the Thames Water board's equity-raise process, astir 3 months aft submitting a multibillion lb connection to instrumentality control.

Money latest: My security steadfast charged maine £700 aft my canine died - is this right?

Britain's biggest h2o inferior has been plunged backmost into situation by a determination past week by KKR, the backstage equity firm, to abandon its presumption arsenic preferred bidder.

Sky News revealed that the determination was made aft talks betwixt KKR and Downing Street officials amid concerns astir the governmental hazard of bailing retired a institution which supplies indispensable services to much than 15 cardinal people.

Since then, Thames Water's biggest radical of creditors - accounting for astir £13bn of its immense debt-pile - has submitted what it described arsenic a £17bn connection to recapitalise the company.

This, the bondholders said, would comprise £3bn of caller equity and much than £2bn of indebtedness funding.

Existing shareholders would beryllium wholly wiped out, portion determination would besides beryllium respective cardinal pounds of indebtedness writedowns aimed astatine restoring fiscal resilience and improving services,

The bondholders are reported to beryllium seeking immunity from prosecution for Thames Water's biology failings, portion they besides privation an statement that Ofwat, the manufacture regulator, would drastically trim the level of fiscal penalties facing the company.

Last month, Thames Water was fined a grounds £123m implicit sewage leaks and the outgo of dividends, with Ofwat lambasting the institution implicit its show and governance.

Sir Adrian has tally into yet much difficulties successful caller days, with MPs connected a cardinal Commons prime committee questioning grounds helium had fixed to it and calling connected Thames Water to claw backmost hundreds of thousands of pounds paid to a fig of elder executives arsenic retention payments successful caller months.

Under caller laws, Thames Water is among fractional a twelve h2o companies which person been barred from paying bonuses this twelvemonth due to the fact that of their mediocre biology records.

CKI owns ample swathes of British infrastructure, including Northumbrian Water, Northern Gas Networks, UK Power Networks and Eversholt, the rolling-stock leasing institution which has been enactment up for sale.

Its expertise successful moving large companies of the standard of Thames Water would resoluteness a headache for ministers anxious to debar placing the radical into a peculiar medication authorities (SAR), which would incur a multibillion lb measure for taxpayers.

Ministers are besides said to beryllium wary astir the deficiency of acquisition successful the bondholder radical astatine moving a large h2o company, though Sky News revealed past week that the concern seasoned Mike McTighe had been lined up to spearhead their interest.

"This is simply a proven relation versus a radical of fiscal engineers," said 1 idiosyncratic adjacent to CKI.

However, a takeover of Thames Water by CKI could yet look stiff governmental opposition.

In April, a cross-party radical of politicians wrote to Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, expressing concerns astir CKI's links to Beijing.

Iain Duncan Smith, the erstwhile Conservative Party person and a strident professional of Chinese concern successful the UK, posted connected societal media past week that a CKI takeover of Thames Water "should beryllium avoided astatine each costs".

Read much from Sky News:
Unemployment complaint highest successful 4 years
Paternity wage successful UK 'among lowest successful developed world'
Government commits £14.2bn to caller atomic powerfulness station

CKI had already expressed vexation astatine being eliminated from the Thames Water process successful April, with The Times reporting that it had written to Ofwat to explicit its dismay.

In caller weeks, the authorities has described Thames Water arsenic "stable", but said it was acceptable to measurement successful and instrumentality power of the institution if required to.

The institution efficaciously faces a deadline of precocious July to finalise a rescue woody due to the fact that of a referral of its five-year regulatory colony to the Competition and Markets Authority.

The Hong Kong-based institution declined to remark connected Tuesday.