CK Infrastructure, part of the CK Hutchison group, put forward the non-binding offer earlier this month. The news came after a UK court on Tuesday approved a 3 billion pound emergency loan for Thames Water. The loan provides a short-term solution to keeping the company — faced with debts of 16 billion pounds — afloat while it finds the necessary funding to stave off a costly public bailout. If the company that serves 16 million customers, or a quarter of the UK’s population, fails to find the funding, it will have to call on the state to bail it out. Such a rescue would be a blow to the government in the face of tight public finances. The company has also received other offers including a 4 billion pounds bid from American investment fund KKR. It did not comment on the FT report when asked by AFP. It is owned by a consortium of shareholders including Canada’s Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and the British Universities Superannuation Scheme. It has recently attracted interest from private buyers.
