Thames Swims Back to the Main Board
Posted on: Monday, 5 June 2006, 15:00 CDT
By Brian O'Connor, Daily Mail, London
Jun. 2--Thames Water is heading back to the stock market in what is likely to be a controversial share sale valuing it at up to £7bn.
Though the move will stoke up controversy about shortages, the adequacy of investment and the rewards to top management, the share sale may not happen until 2007.
German power group RWE, which bought Thames Water for £4.8bn in 2000, says it is "moving forward with preparations" for a public share offer, while "leaving the door open for other options."
Potential buyers, thought to include Guy Hands'Terra Firma Group and Hong Kong conglomerate Cheung Kong, have already been sniffing around.
Thames managing director Jeremy Pelczer wrote to customers this month warning that supplies were tight and talking of a drought order. Last night Thames came under fire from Westminster Council for poor road repairs.
Against this background, a share sale, with extensive disclosure of investment plans, performance levels and executive pay and perks, is a lip-smacking prospect.
But Thames is just as likely to be sold outright. UK utilities such as Scottish & Southern Energy are interested.
But they may be outbid by "infrastructure funds" such as Australia's Macquarie, which have attracted a flood of money.
-----
To see more of the Daily Mail and the Financial Mail on Sunday, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thisismoney.com.
Copyright (c) 2006, Daily Mail, London
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
RWEOY, RWE, SSE, MBL,
Source: Daily Mail
Related Articles
- Anixter International Inc. Reports Second Quarter Net Loss of $2.53 Per Diluted Share, Including Goodwill Impairment Charge of $2.82 Per Diluted Share, on Sales of $1.22 Billion
- PUC Okays Pittsburgh Transportation Group Sale
- Raketu Releases Rak-Groups Social Communication and Media Sharing Groups
- Savvy Sellers to Gather Around the Watercooler and Share 'Successful Sales Strategies'
- On The Go Technologies Group's Sales Top $10 Million for Quarter
- Supermarkets/Hypermarkets Account for the Largest Share in Sales of the $2 Trillion Food Retail Market
- Dell Eyes Latin America to Expand Market Share: Dell Sales Outside the United States -- Predominantely Latin America -- Rose 33 Percent. That's Prompted Dell to Put More Emphasis on International Growth
- Liquid Milk Continues to Account for the Largest Share of Sales in the UK Milk and Dairy Market Although Prices Have Been Kept Down By Many Retailers As Part of Wider Low-Pricing Strategies
- 4 Agencies Share Group Home Pacts
- Peabody Shares Make Big Daily Surge
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds