Anglian axes Cayman company while Yorkshire seeks consent to quit three

Anglian Water last week removed its Cayman Islands company, making it the first of the securitised companies to do so. Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water is seeking consent from its bondholders to remove three Cayman companies and one UK company (Yorkshire Water Services Finance) from the Yorkshire Water Financing Group.

The Anglian move is part of a package of measures Anglian announced in March in response to the industry’s challenge from DEFRA and Ofwat on financing, transparency and public interest issues.

The Cayman subsidiary was set up as part of Anglian’s securitisation in 2002. The company has previously explained the subsidiary was effectively dormant and has never been used for tax advantage or to raise debt, but because it is increasingly perceived negatively, its removal became a priority. In March, chief executive Peter Simpson said he hoped to finalise the removal this year, so completion in late May is well ahead of schedule.

Yorkshire Water last week issued its proposals to delete subsidiaries and will convene bondholder meetings on 20 June. The moves follow its announcement in October 2017 that the Caymans companies would go.