By bizn_fun 
The future of Thames Water hangs in the balance. The water and waste utility that serves 16 million people is nearly £20bn in debt and living off an emergency loan granted by its existing lenders keen to stave off collapse.
Those lenders – now known as London and Valley Water – are locked in exclusive talks with regulators and the government over a rescue proposal.
This plan would see 25% of their debts written off and more than £4bn of new cash injected, but will require years of leniency on fines for pollution incidents. If Thames Water collapses into administration, those debts could be written off by a greater amount.
But other potential bidders have expressed frustration that this group of lenders has effective control of the company and has used that position to shut out rival – and, they argue, better – proposals.
CKI Holdings is already an owner of Northumbrian Water and UK Power Networks. An analysis by Barclays says that Thames’ customer bills could be nearly 20% higher in five years’ time if a rescue plan proposed by lenders to the stricken utility is approved.
Barclays’ research calculates that the lenders’ proposal requires customers to bear some of the future operational and financial risks to the company, adding £116 to bills when they are revised in 2030, and require additional leniency from the regulator from fines over sewage and spills.