Thames Water Creditors Respond to Oxford Professor's Call for Company Administration
Creditors of Thames Water, holding £20 billion in debt, rejected criticism from Oxford professor Dieter Helm who called for the company to enter administration. Helm described Thames as a textbook case of poor public policy and criticized ongoing negotiations. The creditors emphasized a market solution with enhanced regulatory transparency.
The TimesCreditors behind £20 billion of Thames Water debt rebutted claims from Oxford University professor Dieter Helm that the company should be placed into administration. Through their vehicle London & Valley Water, which is attempting to engineer a takeover of Thames Water, the creditors stated that Helm's comments do not accurately reflect the market solution being discussed with regulator Ofwat. m.
BST. Dieter Helm, a professor of economic policy at Oxford University, wrote on his own website excoriating the creditors’ plans and the government’s handling of Thames Water. ' He added that putting Thames into administration would be a 'market process' as that would attract competing takeover bids rather than the company’s refusal to engage with any other parties.
These statements appeared in his website post, as reported by The Times. ' The official confirmed that Dieter Helm is not party to the negotiations between London & Valley Water and Ofwat. London & Valley Water stated that regulators will have enhanced transparency and Thames Water will have clear accountability for reducing pollution and improving environmental outcomes against stretching performance targets in the performance improvement and turnaround plan.
