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.
CK Infrastructure, part of the CK Hutchison group, put forward the non….
