Newspaper reports SES Water up for sale

The Financial Times reported over the weekend that SES Water owners, Sumitomo and Osaka Gas, are putting the business up for sale.

According to the newspaper: “SES’s Japanese owners are understood not to have wanted to put equity into the business and instead decided to sell, one person close to the discussions said.”

Ofwat put SES in the "action required" category when it published its 2021-22 Monitoring Financial Resilience report in December.

A spokesperson for SES Water said: “Our shareholders have engaged financial advisors to undertake a strategic review of the group business. Macquarie Capital has been appointed to look at the entire East Surrey Holdings portfolio, including SES Water. This type of review is not uncommon and is regularly undertaken by shareholders. The review is in the early stages and no outcome has been decided at this stage.”