Regulators must not go soft on Thames Water now

With six bids on the table, the company’s reference to ‘support and accommodations’ sounds like a plea for special treatment

Who wants to invest in Thames Water? Six parties have made proposals, said the company on Tuesday, adding that it hopes to have a financial restructuring deal on the table by the end of June. Five of the six plans involve write-downs for holders of the senior class A debt. Then came the vague – but crucial – bit. Most of the proposals “are conditional on further, and varying, regulatory support and accommodations being achieved”.

What does that mean? The company will not explain what form of “support and accommodations” it has in mind, but a natural reading says this is a plea for special treatment.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/fhB7W30

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