Thames Water has announced that its proposed restructuring plan became effective on Friday after the plan to implement the liquidity extension transaction was approved by the High Court on 18 February last week.

The Thames Water Group will now proceed with the initial implementation steps of the liquidity extension transaction, with the final steps being taken following the outcome of any appeal process.

Thames Water said the Court of Appeal has agreed to its request that the appeals be heard on an expedited basis. The appeal hearing will now take place on 11-13 March 2025. Thames Water says it remains confident in the Plan and is of the view that the Plan is in the best interest of all its stakeholders and is now focused on its delivery.

Chris Weston, CEO, Thames Water said:

"We remain focused on putting Thames Water onto a more stable financial footing as we seek a long-term solution to our financial resilience and today's news demonstrates further progress. We continue to work closely with our creditors, enabling us to continue to implement our turnaround plan so that we can deliver better results for our customers and the environment whilst seeking to attract new capital into the business. The sanction of the 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 Liquidity Extension Transaction will provide the Thames Water Group with up to £3 billion in new super senior funding, including:

• an initial tranche of £1.5 billion, which will be accessible after the satisfaction of certain conditions; and
• 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 decision to make an appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority following Ofwat’s Final Determination in December.

The transaction will also see the maturities of all Class A Debt and Class B Debt (including amortisation payments) extended by two years, which will take effect on or around two business days after the announcement on Friday.

However, the High Court also granted permission to an ad hoc group of Class B Debt creditors and Charlie Maynard MP to appeal the Court's decision to sanction the Plan on certain grounds – they have since filed and served notices of appeal.

In the meantime, Thames is continuing to progress its equity raise process. On 11 February 2025, the utility announced that it had received proposals from a number of parties, including a £4 billion bid from US private equity company KKK. Thames is now conducting a detailed assessment of each bid.

At the weekend the Financial Thames reported that Thames Water had received a preliminary £7 billion bid for a majority stake in the company from Hong Kong’s CK Infrastructure (CKI). CkI already owns a 75% majority stake in Northumbrian Water.