China to buy 10% stake in Thames Water

China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country’s US$410 billion sovereign wealth fund, is set to buy 10% of the holding company that owns Thames Water, the fund’s first acquisition in the UK following investment talks with British officials, the Financial Times reported, citing a person familiar with the situation. Thames Water provides sewerage services to 14 million customers and water to 8.8 million people in London and the Thames Valley. The deal comes after chancellor George Osborne visited Beijing this week in an effort to urge Chinese investors to inject money into British infrastructure projects. Kemble Water, the holding company of Thames Water, is owned by a consortium of investors led by Australian investment bank Macquarie. Mr Osborne held “very serious meetings of substance” with Lou Jiwei, chairman of CIC during his Beijing visit this week. Mr Lou wrote in November that it is a “win-win” situation and suggested Chinese companies and investors wanted to own, operate and build infrastructure in the West.