Canada’s Borealis, the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) and the Universities Superannuation Scheme have launched a takeover bid for UK water company Severn Trent. We answer five questions on the bid.
What has the consortium offered for Severn Trent?
The companies together are believed to be willing to shell out £23 a share, valuing the company, which supplies water to more than 4.2 million households in the Midlands and mid-Wales, at £5.3bn.
Is Severn Trent considering this offer?
All the company have divulged is that the business proposal is at a very early stage; however, the consortium has until 5pm on June 11 to make a concrete offer to Severn.
What else has Severn said?
Severn, which is the largest of the 10 regulated water and sewage businesses in the UK, in a statement said:
“No proposal has been made and there can be no certainty that an offer will be made or as to the terms of any such offer, should one be forthcoming”.
If Severn was to be taken over by the consortium, what would this mean?
It would mean that it is the latest water company in the UK to be snapped up by foreign investors.
The others being, Thames Water, which was purchased in 2006 for $8bn by a consortium led by the Australian bank Macquarie
Yorkshire Water owner Kelda Group was bought out a year later for $6.3bn (£4.1bn) by a consortium comprising Citigroup, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, Infracapital Partners and HSBC.
What have the experts said?
Speaking to the Telegraph, Peter Atherton, an analyst at Liberum Capital, said:
“For a potential bid to be made in year three of the five-year regulatory cycle is surprising, and the bidder will be taking on considerable regulatory risk if they pay this sort of premium at this point in the cycle.”
While Severn Trent’s chief executive, Tony Wray, who announced he was stepping down just a month ago, last week told the paper:
“We are heading in the right direction,” he said. “We have more or less recovered from our dim and distant dark days. We are doing all the right things.
“It is time for me to go and do the other things I want to do in life which I have put on hold for the last eight years.”