A water retailer co-founded by Tory treasurer Graham Edwards has offered a £4 billion rescue package to bring Thames Water back from the brink of collapse, according to a Bloomberg report.
Thames Water, which supplies London and the South East with water and sewage services, faces forced renationalisation if it fails to find a market-based solution to its £16 billion debt obligations.
The utility has been lining up credit and equity options to help maintain a cash runway that risks running dry by May 2025.
Failure to adequately restructure its balance sheet will see Thames Water returned to public ownership.
Thames Water has requested potential suitors to submit their funding proposals by this coming Thursday, although equity rounds cannot be closed until water regulator Ofwat’s final determination on December 19.
This will lay down the law on how much water firms can charge customers and invest in relation to shareholders’ equity.
Castle Water operates by purchasing water from wholesalers (such as Thames Water) and delivering the water, plus added metering, efficiency and customer service offerings, to businesses.
It earned over £430 million in revenue in the last financial year and made a £4 million post-tax loss.