(Reuters) -France’s Suez Group said on Friday it would submit a non-binding joint offer with investor Covalis Capital for the struggling British utility Thames Water.
“At this stage, Suez’s scope of work is limited to an advisory mission to ensure the project’s success and address the specific challenges faced by Thames Water,” Suez said in an emailed statement.
The French group would help manage the utility’s operations as part of a 5 billion pound ($6.38 billion) bid tendered by Covalis Capital for full ownership, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
Thames Water had asked potential investors to put forward indicative bids by the end of Thursday as the UK’s biggest water company looks to secure a multi-billion-pound cash injection to avoid nationalisation.
The UK’s largest water utility, embroiled in a crisis over sewage dumping and crumbling pipe networks, has been teetering on the verge of collapse since its investors called the company “uninvestable” in March.
After Suez confirmed the bid in a statement on Friday, Thames declined a Reuters request for comment.
($1 = 0.7843 pounds)
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and David Evans)
