Ofwat has approved the acquisition of a 25% stake in Northumbrian Water by American investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR & Co Inc) which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In July 2022, CK Hutchinson Holdings Limited and CK Asset Holding Limited { both listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) entered into an agreement with KKR & Co Inc to collectively sell 25% of their shares of Northumbrian Water Group Ltd, the holding company of Northumbrian Water. The transaction completed in December 2022.
The regulator said it has not identified any issues with the change of ownership, operational activities or finances of new investors KKR & Co.
To assess the new owner of Northumbrian Water the water sector regulator reviewed information provided by Northumbrian Water and its new investor KKR & Co Inc. The company has previous experience of investing in the UK water sector – for the period 2013 to July 2018 it owned 75% of the shares in South Staffordshire Water PLC.
In addition, Ofwat separately carried out its own investigations into the new corporate structure using publicly available information sourced from Companies House which shows that Nimbus UK Bidco Ltd holds the shares. The company was formed in March 2022 to facilitate the acquisition of the 25% investment in Northumbrian Water. As of March 2022, KKR & Co Inc is shown as the sole entity with significant influence or control over Nimbus UK Bidco Ltd.
Ofwat has concluded that the change of control assessment has not identified any issues with regard to the ownership, operational activities and financial standing of the new investors.
Following the investment KKR & Co Inc will be able to appoint one individual to the Board of Northumbrian Water and will have power of veto on a number of shareholder matters. CH Hutchinson Holding Ltd and CK Asset Holding Ltd remain the majority shareholders in the water company.
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