South Staffordshire Water was sold by the Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank yesterday to the independent private investment firm Alinda Capital Partners at an estimated price of £400 millon.

South Staffordshire was purchased by Arcapita in 2004 for £245m.  Information about yesterday’s sale price has not been publicly disclosed but industry sources have suggested a figure in the region of £400m. With a turnover in excess of £100m, South Staffs supplies water to nearly 1.25 million customers in the Midlands and employs more than 1,000 people.

During the past year three other water companies have changed hands. Anglian Water's owner AWG, was sold to the Osprey consortium, Thames Water sold to the Australian bank Macquarie, and Southern Water  which was bought earlier this month  by a consortium of infrastructure investors and pension funds led by JP Morgan Chase.

Alinda has made acquisitions in Europe and the US in gas, utilities, airports, rail ways and water totalling $5.7bn (£2.8bn). Alinda Capital has  invested over $150 billion in  infrastructure over the last  25 years. The Alinda Infrastructure Fund is an unlisted institutional fund with $3 billion in capital commitments and approximately $10 billion in purchasing power.

Commenting on the deal, Chris Beale, Alinda's managing partner, said: "This transaction will be seamless for South Staffordshire's customers, who will continue to receive the same high quality and service."