Thames Water creditors eye board shake-up if takeover plan succeeds
The group of creditors vying to take control of Thames Water has said it will appoint the former bosses of Yorkshire Water and BT Openreach to the utility’s board should it succeed in fending off nationalisation by the government.
The London & Valley Water (L&VW) consortium, which includes heavyweight investors including Apollo and Elliott, has announced four proposed appointments to the company’s board if its turnaround plan is given the go-ahead by ministers.
Liz Barber, the former chief executive of Yorkshire Water, and Clive Selley, the former boss of BT Openreach, would both be handed non-executive director roles, the group said in a statement. They would be joined by Mike McTighe, a turnaround specialist and chair of Openreach who has been advising Thames Water, and Dame Bernadette Kelly, a former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport.
“The challenge at Thames Water is huge,” McTighe said. “If this recapitalisation plan is accepted, we will apply full dedication as a new board, working alongside the executive team to transform the business and build a culture in which the customers and local communities who depend on Thames Water come first.”
Can Thames Water dodge nationalisation?
L&VW’s plan for Thames Water that would see it remain in private ownership and eventually re-listed on the London Stock Exchange. As part of its proposals, the investors have said all profit would be invested in the business and its investors will not take any dividends for 10 years.
However, ministers have been weighing putting the company into a special administration regime, a form of temporary nationalisation, which would impose huge losses on its investors. Andy Burnham has said repeatedly he would like to see “greater public control” of utility companies.
Thames Water has been creaking under a near £20bn pile of debt and warned investors last month that it would run out of cash by the end of the year.
The former environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, earlier this year dismissed L&VW’s turnaround plan.