KKR’s dealmakers are no strangers to trying to make money from messy situations.
Even so, a trip to Thames Water’s sprawling Beckton Sewage Treatment works is not the most inviting assignment. Originally built as part of the Victorian sewage system overseen by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, Beckton is now the biggest waste treatment works in Europe, serving more than 4mn Londoners. It has required extensive upgrades to try to curtail human waste flowing into the river Thames during torrential rain.
Executives from the US private equity firm recently took in the sights and smells of Beckton during a whistle-stop tour of Thames Water’s major facilities, as part of the intensive due diligence KKR is undertaking to try to take over the near-insolvent utility and rescue it from the brink of nationalisation as it struggles under nearly £20bn of debt.