Thames Water investors offer ‘golden share’ in bid to head off nationalisation

Thames Water’s investor consortium has предложed giving the UK government a “golden share” in an effort to stop the company being taken into public ownership, according to a monitored public feed from The Guardian Business.

The proposal comes from London & Valley Water (L&VW), a group of 100 institutional investors that together hold £17bn of Thames Water’s £21bn debt. The consortium is trying to secure a rescue deal for the heavily indebted utility and appears to be responding to pressure for stronger public oversight of Britain’s largest water company.

Under the proposal, the government would get a veto over major corporate decisions and any hostile takeover attempts. L&VW said it understood that the new prime minister wants greater public control and stronger accountability in the water sector, and it is presenting the golden share as a way to meet those demands without nationalising the business.

The move comes after Andy Burnham called for stronger public control over Thames Water, adding urgency to negotiations around the company’s future. The investors’ pitch is intended as a last-ditch effort to persuade ministers not to move ahead with nationalisation.

Thames Water has been under intense scrutiny because of its debt burden and the wider debate over how water companies should be governed in England and Wales. The golden share idea would give the state a formal power inside the company while leaving ownership in private hands, a compromise the investors hope will be more acceptable than full public control.

The report, based on a monitored public feed, suggests the talks are taking place against a backdrop of political pressure and concern about the long-term stability of the utility. No further terms of the rescue bid were provided in the feed summary.

Source: The Guardian Business - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/21/thames-water-investors-golden-share-nationalisation-andy-burnham