The crisis at Thames Water has created an uncertain future for Britain’s biggest privatised water company. Shareholders are refusing to inject funding in a stand-off with Ofwat. The water industry regulator has refused to allow the company to increase its bills, which investors say makes its proposed turnaround plan “uninvestible”. Adding to its woes, Kemble Water Finance, the holding company of Thames Water, has issued a formal notice of default to bondholders after it failed to make an interest payment due earlier this month. Thames has submitted a new plan which the regulator has yet to approve.
Britain’s water and sewerage industry was privatised in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher’s government, driven in part by the need to increase investment to meet European Union environmental standards
