Consultation on change of ownership for Southern Water Services Limited

Ofwat has been notified of a change in ownership that affects a regulated company, Southern Water Services Limited (“Southern Water”). This document is a consultation on whether any issues arise out of the recent change of control.

A change of control occurs when there is any change in who can materially influence the direction, strategy, or activities of a business. We do not limit our definition of change of control to a situation in which shares in a company are transferred to another party.

Our assessment has been undertaken in accordance with the approach we have set out in Section 2 of our Change of Control General Policy2. In carrying out our assessment we reviewed information provided by the new owner and Southern Water, and we have separately carried out our own investigations on the new corporate structure using publicly available information.

Specifically, this document sets out:

• Our assessment of the ownership structure.
• Our assessment of the new owner as well as their capacity to be an owner of a regulated water company.
• Our understanding of how the governance arrangements, which are relevant considerations in identifying the new Ultimate Controllers of Southern Water, have changed following the change of control.
• Our considerations in identifying the new Ultimate Controllers of Southern Water.

We ask for views on our assessment of the new owner of Southern Water and of the entity we have identified as an Ultimate Controller.

Responding to this consultation

We welcome any comments on this consultation. Please email your response to financial.resilience@ofwat.gov.uk or post it to:

Financial Resilience Change of Control consultation response, Ofwat, Centre City Tower, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA.

The closing date for this consultation is 30 October 2026. If you have any questions about this consultation, please contact us at financial.resilience@ofwat.gov.uk.