Thames Water lenders preparing legal challenge in event of Burnham nationalisation

Thames Water lenders preparing legal challenge in event of Burnham nationalisationImage source, EPABySimon JackBusiness editorPublished2 minutes agoThe lenders to Thames Water are preparing a legal challenge in case a Burnham-led government attempts to nationalise the UK's biggest water company.Burnham - who takes over as PM on Monday - has previously said he wants to see "greater public control" of the water and energy sectors and has called for Thames Water to be nationalised.Thames Water is about £20bn in debt. Its lenders had proposed a deal to write off nearly half of that and inject new cash in return for some leniency from future pollution fines, but this deal has previously been rejected by the government as being "weak" and bad for consumers and the environment.Sources close to the creditors have told the BBC that in the event of full nationalisation, they would pursue payment in full of the outstanding debts as has happened in previous cases, which could leave the government with a multi-billion-pound bill.Fears first emerged three years ago that Thames Water could collapse and on Thursday, the firm warned it has enough cash to last until the end of this year.Creditors insisted on Sunday that they were still working with officials and regulators to reach an agreement to rescue the company.A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the government was "prepared for any eventuality"."Thames Water customers have been let down for far too long, with 15 years of under-performance, increasing serious pollution, and customers left to pick up the bill," the spokesperson said."The secretary of state has written to Ofwat to outline her early views that she is not convinced London and Valley Water's proposal is good enough for consumers or the environment."The lenders have offered to write off £9.4bn of Thames Water's near £20bn debt pile and put £3.35bn of cash into t...