Billionaire looks at £2bn water bid

Northumbrian Water, which serves customers in the North East and parts of Essex and Suffolk, saw its shares jump 8 per cent after Cheung Kong Infrastructure, a company controlled by businessman Sir Li Ka-shing, said it was in the early stages of assessing a potential cash offer.

Cheung Kong (CKI) has infrastructure assets worldwide and recently completed a joint £5.8bn deal to buy 170,000 miles of electrical network covering London, the South East and eastern England from France’s EDF.

It also owns stakes in the Northern Gas Networks distribution business and Seabank Power, an electricity-generating company located near Bristol.

Northumbrian is 27 per cent owned by Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers, which reportedly tried to put together its own takeover bid last year.

Shares in Northumbrian have risen in recent days on fresh speculation that it could be the subject of a bid worth as much as £5 a share, equivalent to £2.6bn.

Shares closed 30.5p higher at 413.5p last night.

In a statement, CKI said it noted the recent speculation regarding a possible offer for Northumbrian Water.

It added: “CKI is in the preliminary stages of assessing a potential cash offer for Northumbrian Water. There can be no certainty that an offer will ultimately be forthcoming. A further announcement will be made when appropriate.”

Northumbrian supplies millions of UK customers, including 2.6m in the North East.