The nine shareholders stated that they had been in discussions with the regulator and Thames Water to try and work out a solution for the “complex challenges” that the business was facing.
However, they made the following claim in a statement: “After more than a year of negotiations, Ofwat has not been ready to offer the required regulatory support for a business plan that eventually takes care of the problems that Thames Water is facing.
“As a result, shareholders are not in a position to provide further funding to Thames Water.”
The water corporation provides services to around 25% of the population in the UK, but it has been drowning in debt, with interest payments totaling over £15 billion.
Its shareholders, which included China’s sovereign wealth fund and the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), had committed to providing it with £750 million in fresh equity investment, the first £500 million of which was expected by the end of this month.
However, Thames Water declared on Thursday morning that the company’s business model was “uninvestable” due to regulatory procedures, hence the shareholders would not be funding the initial £500 million.
