Unlock the publisher’s digest free
Roula Khalaf, editor -in -chief of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Thames Water has received preliminary equity offers from parties who include one of the largest infrastructure investors in the United States and an asset investor based in London.
The Treet Public Service, which serves 16 million households in London and around London and moaned under nearly 20 billion pounds in debt, said on Tuesday that it had “received proposals from six parties with regard to the recovery of actions” through which it sought to increase billions of pounds to avoid the collapse.
Among the six interesting parties in the supply of new equity equity to the Thames are the American investment company KKR, the investor of the infrastructure of Hong Kong CKI, the Hedge Fund Covalis Capital and Castle Water, a commercial water service provider in London. These four parties are the most involved in the process, according to several people familiar with the issue.
The other bidders are Stonepeak, an American infrastructure investor who manages more than $ 70 billion in assets, and Fitzwalter Capital, a London -based fund that focuses on investment in a distress debt.
These preliminary offers are not binding and require no firm commitment, some parts choosing to stay in the process, even if they consider a possible business offer as unlikely.
“Everyone suspends the hoop when they saw if something good fate,” said a person close to the process.
Two people familiar with the case said Stonepeak was less interested in buying the Thames than KKR and CKI, the one who submitted a proposal indicating that she would inject 7 billion pounds sterling into the public service of inolvants.
Fitzwalter, on the other hand, was the anonymous part called by Thames Water as subjecting a proposal “in minority equity, intended to associate with investors and did not establish financial measures”.
Stonepeak and Fitzwalter refused to comment.
Fitzwalter has some of the class B obligations of Thames Water class B, which could undergo heavy losses under the loan agreement of 3 billion pounds sterling that public service agreed with higher rank creditors.
Covônis also has some of these junior obligations. The company based in London, which focuses on investment in the assets linked to infrastructure, was very critical of how Thames Water and its Rothschild & Co advisor managed the actions elevation process.
Thames Water is dangerously low in cash and tries to request the approval of bond holders to access money from its rescue loan of 3 billion pounds sterling before any potential legal challenge to the controversial package.
Public service said that it hoped to agree on the terms of an increase on actions by the end of June while it seeks to reverse its finances.
In addition to the six bidders in equity, class A class A bonds of the utility indicated that they were preparing an offer of safeguard creditor if the increase in shares fails. These bond holders include American funds such as Elliott Management and Pimco.
Thames Water said on Tuesday that some of the offers also offered creditors the opportunity to invest in public service in exchange for a stay at the value of their debt.
Thames Water refused to comment.