Thames Water has appointed a former Pennon Group PLC and Anglian Water executive as its new finance boss after the previous chief quit abruptly last week.

Steve Buck will join next week at a ‘pivotal’ moment for the heavily indebted water group as it searches for a buyer to help stabilise its finances.

Buck was formerly the CFO at Pennon, which owns South West Water, and at Anglian Water.

He has also held a number of senior finance roles at British Gas owner Centrica PLC, and previously worked for Thames Water between 2002 and 2007.

His new role will give him a £500,000 annual salary with the opportunity to earn a bonus of up to 156%, depending on whether performance targets are met.

Thames Water’s previous CFO, Alastair Cochran, said he was stepping down on Friday, midway through its major restructuring plans.

The Reading-based utility company, which is England’s biggest water firm with about 16 million customers, recently won court approval to take out as much as £3 billion more in loans.

The financing, on top of its £16 billion debt pile, was part of a deal designed to keep the firm running into 2026.

It is also searching for a buyer to help stabilise its finances, and earlier this week said it had chosen New York-based private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, KKR, as its preferred bidder.

Thames Water is hoping to finalise terms of a possible deal with KKR in the second quarter, with aims to complete in the second half of the year.

Chris Weston, Thames Water chief executive, said: ‘I am delighted that Steve is joining Thames at a pivotal moment for the business.

‘He will play a crucial role as we seek to place Thames on a more secure financial foundation, continue to implement our turnaround plan and focus on a full recapitalisation of the business.’

Buck said he was ‘looking forward to returning’ to the group, adding that he would be focusing on efforts to ‘put the business on a firmer financial platform’.

By Anna Wise, PA Business Reporter

Press Association: Finance

source: PA

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