Source: Sharecast
The Financial Times on Friday cited two people familiar with the matter as saying that CKI, which is part of CK Hutchison group, submitted the non-binding offer earlier this month.
While CKI indicated it would be willing to inject £7bn of equity to fix the utility’s broken balance sheet, its offer is contingent on bondholders in Thames Water’s near-£20bn debt pile agreeing to take significant writedowns, sources told the FT.
It was understood that CK Hutchison’s majority stake in Northumbrian Water could also prove a sticking point. The group is not keen to dispose of its 75% stake in the other regional water monopoly, the sources said, which may cause issues with competition regulators.
Thames Water received several non-binding bids earlier this month, including a rival £4bn bid from US private equity firm KKR.
The water utility is looking to raise billions of pounds in equity while negotiating a debt restructuring with its lenders in a bid to avoid insolvency.
Thames Water declined to comment to the FT, while a representative for CKI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.