CMS advises on acquisition of stake in Anglian Water

London, 19 December 2017. International law firm CMS has advised a consortium comprising fund management company, Dalmore Capital (Dalmore), and GLIL Infrastructure LLP (GLIL), an infrastructure investment joint venture between five local Government pension funds, on their acquisition of a 15% stake in Anglian Water Group plc (AWG) from 3i Infrastructure plc. Dalmore and GLIL have agreed to acquire the 15% interest on a 50:50 basis. The sale is conditional on certain third party consents and completion is expected in early 2018.

AWG manages water and water recycling services in the East of England and Hartlepool, and is the largest water and sewerage company in England and Wales by geographic area. It supplies and services around 2 million households and 124,000 businesses, delivering around 1.1bn litres of water every day. This investment is part of Dalmore and GLIL’s strategy to invest in UK infrastructure assets, reflecting their shared investment philosophies, which are based upon long-term investment in low volatility growth assets in the UK.

The CMS team was led by Co-Head of Corporate Charles Currier, with support from Brynn Horner and Chanelle Tong (Corporate), Aaron Fairhurst and Tim Dobbing (Tax), and Robert Lane and Marianne Anton (Energy). Travers Smith acted for 3i.

Commenting on the deal, Charles Currier says: “We were pleased to support the consortium on this transaction, which is strategically important to both parties and reflects how highly they regard AWG within the water sector.”