Thames Water’s senior lenders, led by Elliott Management and Apollo Global Management, have told officials they will submit a bid for the utility even if the incoming prime minister Andy Burnham places it into a Special Administration Regime (SAR).

The London & Valley Water consortium proposes injecting £3.35bn of new equity and £3.25bn of fresh debt into the company that serves 16mn customers and carries £20bn of debt. Ofwat must still approve the plan after a three‑month public consultation and a High Court sign‑off, while the utility could run out of cash in October.

Burnham has signaled a preference for public ownership but faces tight fiscal headroom. Other suitors, including CK Infrastructure Holdings and Castle Water, have also indicated they would bid in a SAR, suggesting a competitive auction that could keep taxpayer costs low, as happened with Bulb’s sale to Octopus.

A SAR would freeze debt service, allowing cash to flow to pipe upgrades, yet the multi‑year exit process risks a domino effect across other leveraged water firms and could delay the investment the network urgently needs.