The chief executive of Alinta, the Australian energy group, said on Sunday that the next logical step for the company would be to enter the UK water market. The comments from Bob Browning come after the Financial Times reported last month that Alinta had joined the £7bn ($13bn) takeover battle for Thames Water, the UK’s largest water group. If successful, Alinta would finance such a purchase with a A$4bn share issue, underwritten by JPMorgan, the US bank, which would mark Australia’s biggest ever capital raising by a single company. Mr. Browning told Australian television: “We have been looking in the UK for assets for the last year and a half, and we think the next logical extension for us, in terms of infrastructure, is getting into water.” He did not comment specifically on Thames Water but said Alinta wanted to make its first water investment specifically in the UK, as its market was already privatized and offered “a known regulatory regime’’. He added: “Frankly, we’re hoping we can learn from that [UK water] experience so that if Australia heads down that path, it’ll be a very strong tick on our CV.”
A revived Manufacturing PMI pushed prices on 10-year gilts down to 95.590 and yields up 4bps to 4.557%.
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