Hong Kongʼs wealthiest person Li Ka-shing considers putting money into Thames Water as the company needs fast cash-flow help. His company CK Hutchison (which already controls 75% of Northumbrian Water) got an offer from bankers to join Thames Waters £3bn fund-raising plan
CK Hutchison owns lots of stuff in UK: they have wind-farms Northern Gas Networks and even shops like Superdrug. The companys final choice will depend on what Ofwat says about water bills later this year; this decision could make Thames Water more stable
Just last week Thames Water got some good news – they found £3bn from people who already gave them money. The deal includes £1.5bn right now and maybe £1.5bn more later (which helps them stay ok until fall-2025). Chris Weston who runs Thames said: this money doesnt stop them from looking for more help
Here are other companies that might put money in:
- Brookfield Infrastructure Partners
- Global Infrastructure Partners
- Carlyle group
- Castle Water
- I Squared Capital
The whole thing might help Sir Keir Starmer who doesnt want to make Thames Water public – they have £16bn in debt since spring-24 when rich investors left saying rules made it hard to make money. CK Infrastructure didnt want to talk about their plans