The Court of Appeal has upheld Thames Water’s restructuring plan to extend the liquidity runway of the Thames Water Group.
The restructuring plan proposed by Thames Water Utilities Holdings Limited pursuant to Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 in connection with implementing the liquidity extension transaction which had been sanctioned by High Court of Justice of England and Wales has been upheld, subject to a limited modification relating to releases by Thames Water Utilities Holdings Limited and TWUL.
Chris Weston, CEO, Thames Water commented:
“We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has today decisively refused the appeals and upheld the strong High Court decision to sanction the Company Plan. We remain focused on putting Thames Water onto a more stable financial foundation as we seek a long-term solution to our financial resilience.
“Today’s news demonstrates further progress. We continue to work closely with our creditors, enabling us to access liquidity to continue to implement our turnaround plan so we can deliver better results for our customers and the environment while seeking to attract new capital into the business. As we have previously stated, the Company Plan will not affect customer bills but will provide continued investment in our network to fix pipes, upgrade our sewage treatment works, and maintain high-quality drinking water. We remain of the view that a market led solution is in the best interest of customers, UK taxpayers and the wider economy.”
The Company said it will now work with its creditors to seek to satisfy final conditions precedent to the super senior funding and obtain waivers where applicable – to achieve this the Company expects to launch a STID Proposal and consent requests under the super senior funding shortly, together with certain turnover arrangements. Following the outcome of those consent processes, it is expected that the initial tranche of £1.5 billion would be provided in instalments over the coming months.
TWUL’s equity raise process continues to progress in parallel. On 11 February 2025, TWUL announced that it had received proposals from a number of parties and it is now conducting a detailed assessment of each bid. TWUL will provide further updates in relation to the equity raise in due course.
