Thames Water hoping buyer will sign up by end of June

Thames Water has said it hopes to agree a deal with one of six bidders by the end of June and has secured a delay to a review of its bill increases to smooth the rescue process.

- Anna Isaac

The UK's biggest water company said negotiations were ongoing and it wanted to complete the transaction by the end of September.

It comes after the Guardian revealed Thames's requests for special treatment on everything from bills to fines, piling pressure on Ofwat amid a review into the future of regulation in the sector.

Last year, the water watchdog refused the company's request to raise bills by 59%, allowing only a 35% increase over the next five years.

It asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to look again at that decision, but has now agreed with Ofwat - which has to submit this referral formally on its behalf - to delay the appeal for 18 weeks.

Thames has just eight weeks, plus a period of due diligence checks likely to last until the end of June, to secure a bid or face living from month to month as it draws down fresh tranches of money from its existing creditors until autumn next year.