Thames Water Utilities Limited announces that today the Court approved a restructuring plan to extend the liquidity runway of the Thames Water Group.
Following a judgement of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales (the "Court"), the restructuring plan proposed by Thames Water Utilities Holdings Limited pursuant to Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Company Plan") in connection with implementing the liquidity extension transaction (the "Liquidity Extension Transaction") has been sanctioned by the Court.
Sir Adrian Montague, Chairman, Thames Water said: "The Court's approval of the Company Plan marks a significant milestone for Thames Water, enabling us to proceed with the implementation of the Liquidity Extension Transaction. Its implementation is a key step in strengthening our long-term financial resilience and will allow us to continue progressing the equity raise process and a holistic recapitalisation transaction as well as complete the CMA appeal process in respect of Ofwat's PR24 price review. Critically, it enables the management team to continue progressing the turnaround."
Chris Weston, CEO, Thames Water commented: "We are pleased the Court sanctioned the Company Plan. This is good news for our customers, puts our business on a firmer financial footing and enables us to continue to invest in our network and deliver critical infrastructure upgrades for our customers and the environment. Importantly, this decision will support the delivery of our turnaround which is underway."
Liquidity Extension Transaction
As outlined in October 2024, this transaction, now sanctioned by the Court, gives Thames Water the opportunity to obtain up to £3 billion super senior funding including:
- An initial tranche of £1.5 billion to extend liquidity runway until September 2025
- Capacity for a further £1.5 billion across two tranches of £750 million, to further extend liquidity to May 2026 if required, following Thames Water's decision to make an appeal to the CMA following receipt of the Final Determination
The funding will be released to Thames Water on a monthly, or on an interim basis, as required, subject to continued satisfaction of conditions at that time, including that Thames Water has progressed towards a more holistic recapitalisation transaction with the agreement of a sufficient proportion of its creditors during the course of this year. The transaction will also see maturities of all Class A Debt and Class B Debt (including amortisation payments) extended by two years.
Thames Water is considering the timetable for implementation, which will depend on the impact of any potential appeal process.
In the meantime, Thames Water said its equity raise process continues to progress. On 11 February 2025, the company announced that it had received proposals from a number of parties and it is now conducting a detailed assessment of each bid.
