A stick, not a log

Ofwat has stuck another stick in the spokes of the Thames Water sale. The UK water regulator has already told the water company’s owner, Germany’s RWE, it can’t sell to a rival. Now it is warning financial buyers that it doesn’t want a bidder to load too much debt on Thames. That doesn’t rule out a buyout, but may reduce the price. Ofwat was not happy when companies such as AWG and Glas Cymru geared themselves up to the eyeballs a few years ago. So it now says that debt shouldn’t account for mo...