Anglian Water supports Osprey bid

Anglian Water focuses on supplying the east of England

East Anglian water firm AWG is backing the latest bid of £2.25bn ($4.2bn) from consortium Osprey.

The 1,578 pence-a-share offer, made earlier on Monday, marks an increase from the original bid of 1,555 pence.

As well as raising its offer, Osprey increased its stake in the firm from 9.6% to 21.1%, in a move designed to forestall any rival bids.

AWG had already voiced its backing for Osprey's previous bid of £2.2bn, made on 2 October.

The Osprey consortium is made up of Australian, British and Canadian firms.

These include Colonial First State Global Asset Management, a division of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Canada Pension Investment Board, 3i group and Industry Funds Management Osprey.

Consolidation

Several reports over the weekend had suggested that investors, ranging from US bank Merrill Lynch to Australia's Macquarie Bank, were keen on bidding for AWG.

AWG runs Anglian Water in east England and also owns the Morrison infrastructure services business.

The latest offer, a mix of debt and equity, is a 41.7% premium on the average share price in the 12 months to 13 September - the day before AWG revealed that it had been approached.

When the previous offer had been made on 2 October, several unnamed parties also said they were interested in the business.

The news comes as other water firms are also the target of acquisition bids.

Earlier in the day the Gulf state of Qatar expressed an interest in buying Thames Water from German owner RWE.