LONDON – A state-owned investment fund based in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar has made a $13.1 billion (7 billion pounds) offer to buy Thames Water, the United Kingdom's largest supplier of public water, according to a Reuters report.

The offer comes less than one month before Germany-based RWE, owner of Thames Water, closes the bidding process, and is the fourth offer made for the utility, the story said.

RWE has also received bids from Terra Firma Capital Partners, Macquarie Bank of Australia and a consortium led by investment bank UBS AG, the report noted.

RWE announced it plans to lay off 25 percent of the Thames Water work force by 2010, as reported by Water Tech Online


Source :http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?mode=4&N_ID=63594

That is a lot of investment. It is no water Qatar is the most indebted country in the world!

that is indeed a lot of money

What's the point of that anyway?

we can import there dirty water to qatar, maybe the plants only gorow on dirty water:)

we can import there dirty water to qatar, maybe the plants only gorow on dirty water:)


Loool! :hahaha:

I think it's a huge thing buying the biggest British public water company

we're not buying thier water and bringing it home. we are bidding in order for the state to own foreign investments and assets.

we're not buying thier water and bringing it home. we are bidding in order for the state to own foreign investments and assets.


I know, I was only Kidding.

Allahumma inni saiem:cheers2:

hard luck qatar
Thames Water sold to Macquarie Web posted at: 10/17/2006 7:48:49
Source ::: AFP
London • The British water distribution group Thames Water has been sold to a consortium led by the Australian bank Macquarie, the utility's parent company RWE announced on its website yesterday.

Thames Water was sold for £8bn ($14.9bn) to Macquarie, which beat out bids from the Qatar Investment Authority, British investment group Terra Firma and the Australian energy group Alinta. It is the biggest distributor of water in Britain with 13m clients.

Too bad...
Any idea how much was the Qatari authority willing to pay??

$13.1 Billion! I'm glad the deal was off. I don't want to see our money spent on English sewage!

think again ya azizi. our money will be spent on less important stuff, like camel race, buying old footballers, building factories that worth billions of $ in lebanon & investements in syria & jordan.
so, i belive the british deal is far important & beneficial by all standards to qatar than the above real waste of money.

Still, $13 Billion is still a huge strain on the treasury. That is like $50,000 for every citizen of Qatar!

Yet another potential investment by the State of Qatar, this was in this morning newpapers:


EADS in talks over Airbus stake sale: report

PARIS (Reuters) - European aerospace group EADS is negotiating with potential foreign investors, including major Gulf funds, the possibility of selling them direct stakes in its Airbus unit to help fund its A350 project, Les Echos reported on Thursday.
The reported move comes after Britain's BAE Systems last month sold its 20-percent stake in Airbus to EADS, leaving the European aerospace group with the full burden of future investments while recovering from delays to the A380 superjumbo.
Les Echos, quoting a source close to the matter, said EADS was in advanced talks with Dubai International Capital (DIC) and Qatar Investment Authority.
It said EADS was also looking at potential investors in China, India and Russia -- all major markets for its jets -- as well as the United States, home to its rival Boeing.
EADS was not immediately available for comment. In a written response to a Reuters query, DIC said, "Dubai International Capital does not comment on rumor or speculation".
EADS shares rose last week when DIC said that a fund it manages was considering taking stakes in a number of European firms including EADS, the listed parent of jetmaker Airbus.
The shares opened up 0.7 percent at 22.51 euros on Thursday.
The government of Dubai, commercial hub of the world's top oil-exporting region, owns DIC and Emirates airline, a major customer of Airbus, whose shares have been hit by delays to its A380 superjumbo. Emirates is the biggest buyer of the A380.