Pension funds that are shareholders in U.K. utility company Thames Water will foot the bill after the company was fined following an investigation by the Water Services Regulation Authority, a U.K. water regulator also known as Ofwat.
Thames Water agreed to pay £120 million ($160 million) back to its customers, which includes an Ofwat penalty of £65 million and £55 million incurred from not reducing leakage in its pipes, the company said in a news release.
A Thames Water spokeswoman said all of its shareholders, which include the €188.5 billion ($219.6 billion) Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn, Zeist, Netherlands; C$135.5 billion ($104 billion) British Columbia Investment Management Corp., Victoria; C$95 billion Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, Toronto; £60 billion Universities Superannuation Scheme, London; and £49 billion BT Pension Scheme, London, will bear these costs.
Those pension funds have a combined 58% equity interest in a holding company, Kemble Water Holdings, through which they own Thames Water. The spokeswoman declined to provide details of how the shareholders will cover the bill.
