Richard Tice is pressing Andy Burnham to take control of Thames Water as investors offered ministers a golden share on Tuesday. The revised rescue package is meant to stop nationalisation, but it also gives the government a veto over major decisions and hostile takeovers.
London & Valley Water said it holds £17bn of Thames Water’s £21bn debt, through 100 institutional investors. The consortium said the plan would also bar dividends for 10 years, or until Thames Water becomes publicly listed sooner, and would expand the company’s social tariff to cut bills for struggling households.
London & Valley Water offer
The consortium said, “The consortium is willing to make significant new commitments to grant greater controls and oversight to ministers, implemented through a ‘golden share’.” It added, “Under our plan, customers will have strong protections, regulators and government will have enhanced oversight, and there will be greater controls to ensure Thames Water delivers the record investment needed to improve environmental and operational performance”.
A golden share would let the government block important decisions and hostile takeovers without owning the company outright. The offer came after Burnham said last month there should be “greater public control” of Thames Water, and told this could mean nationalisation.
Burnham and special administration
The timing also follows reports that Burnham is planning to put Thames Water into a special administration regime. That process is described as a form of temporary public ownership, and Thames Water’s creditors have claimed the bill could reach £2bn.
The government already holds a golden share in Rolls-Royce and in Royal Mail. Royal Mail was taken as part of an agreement with Daniel Křetínský’s EP Group two years ago.
GMB backs public ownership
Gary Carter, the GMB’s national officer, said, “GMB believes now is the time for Thames Water to come back into public ownership”. He added, “The private sector owners of Thames Water have failed consumers, the environment, and the workforce. The government must take decisive action and nationalise Thames Water.”
The choice now sits with Burnham: accept the revised package with ministerial veto rights, or push Thames Water into special administration regime. For Thames Water customers, the practical issue is whether the company is steered through tighter oversight under private ownership or moved into temporary public ownership with the costs dispute still hanging over it.
