Borealis Infrastructure, the infrastructure investment manager of OMERS, the pension plan for municipal workers in Ontario, Canada, has announced the purchase of an additional 5.5% interest in Kemble Water Holdings Limited, the ultimate holding company of Thames Water Utilities Limited, from AMP Capital. The transaction is expected to close later in the year.

As we reported in mid March this year, Macquarie sold a combined 26.3 per cent interest in Kemble Water Holdings Limited, ending its 11-year relationship with the water supplier. This stake was aquired by by Borealis and Wren House Infrastructure Management Limited, the infrastructure investing arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority.  The additional investment will increase OMERS' overall stake in the company to about 23 percent.

Additionally, Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has agreed to acquire a combined 10.94% stake in Kemble from investors QSuper, Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) and OPTrust. USS is an experienced investor in regulated infrastructure assets.

Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is the private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in large parts of Greater London, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Kent, and some other areas of the United Kingdom. Thames Water is the UK's largest water and wastewater services company, and supplies 2.6 billion litres (570 million imperial gallons) of drinking water per day, and treats 4.4 billion litres (970 million imperial gallons) of wastewater per day. Thames Water's 15 million customers comprise 27% of the UK population.

Thames Water is responsible for a range of water management infrastructure projects including: the Thames Water Ring Main around London; the Lee Tunnel; Europe's largest wastewater treatment works  and the UK's first large-scale desalination plant, both at Beckton. Thames Water awarded Bazalgette Tunnel Ltd the contract to build the £4.2 billion London Tideway Tunnel Infrastructure proposals by Thames Water include the proposed reservoir at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, which would be the largest enclosed or bunded reservoir in the UK.