United Utilities, the UK group that owns and operates electricity, wastewater and water networks in North West England, is putting its electricity distribution unit up for sale to concentrate on its water business.
United owns and operates the 58,000 km electricity network for more than two million customers in the North West, with electricity from the National Grid network. The company plans to continue operating the network after a sale.
Chief Executive Phillip Green said: “We are initiating a sale process for our electricity distribution assets, with a view to maximising shareholder value.
Our water business represents over 85 per cent of the group’s regulatory asset value and we believe that shareholder’s interests are best served by our focusing on the much larger water asset base, which offers significantly more growth potential than our electricity assets.”
The decision follows the sale of United’s outsourcing business Vertex earlier this year. Deutsche Bank has been appointed to handle the sale process.
