Thames Water, the water company with more than 13m customers in London and the South East, is to be acquired by a consortium led by Macquarie of Australia for £8bn. Macquarie won the auction for Thames Water, beating rival bidders who are thought to have includedTerra Firma and the Quatar investment authority. The consortium comprises Macquarie’s European Infrastructure Funds, Macquarie Bank Limited, and a number other investors.Thames Water, formerly owned by German company RWE, is the UK's largest water company, and supplies drinking water to 8 million people and sewerage services to 13 million customers. The acquisition includes the assumption of £3.2bn of debt.