Thames Water nationalisation plan could move bulk of £15bn debt to state

Thames Water could be renationalised, with the bulk of its £15.6bn debt added to the public purse, under radical plans being considered by the government, the Guardian can reveal.

The blueprint, codenamed Project Timber, is being drawn up in Whitehall and would turn Britain’s biggest water company into a publicly owned arm’s-length body.

The company serves 16 million customers in the London and Thames valley regions, but its finances have been left threadbare after previous shareholders siphoned out billions of pounds of dividends and it was hit with hefty fines for pollution and leaks.

However, forcing lenders to bear financial pain would be highly controversial, given Thames’ creditors include some of the world’s biggest asset managers, which lent to the company on the assumption that their investment carried the same gold-plated risk rating as government debt.

While public corporations are known as arm’s-length bodies, the move would ultimately allow the government far greater control and scrutiny of Thames’ day-to-day operations, sources said, speeding up its reform and return to the private sector.

Ofwat, meanwhile, has sought to gather its own intelligence on the state of Thames’ assets, and believes the company’s challenges are similar to those of other water operators who are not making the same financial claims regarding their business plans.