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The senior executives of Thames Water will receive luxurious “retention incentives” as part of an emergency loan of £ 3 billion agreed by the public services company that seeks to avoid renationalization.
Some executives are online for “50 percent of the salary; very substantial bonds” as part of the Loan agreed with creditors Including the US coverage funds. Elliott Management and Silver Point Capital, the president of Thames Water, Sir Adrian Montague, told parliamentarians on Tuesday to parliamentarians.
Montague said that Water Thames I had to continue paying bonuses to prevent rival companies from “withdrawing” their best employees.
“We have a bonus scheme to protect our most precious resource, which is the senior team,” Montague told the Select Income Environment Committee.
The bonuses will be paid in three sections, in addition to their annual salaries and bonus, they were told parliamentarians.
Montague, a veteran from the city of London, admitted that it was an unusual treatment: “This is the first time I meet this, I have made some restructuring in my time,” he said. “We need this team to stay.”
Chris Weston, former British gas executive, was appointed executive director of Thames Water in December 2023 and was criticized for receiving a bonus of £ 195,000 During his first three months at work. It is in a total payment package of up to £ 2.3 million a year.
The Audience of the Select Committee occurs when Thames Water, the largest water company in the United Kingdom, tries to defend against renationalization under the special government administration scheme. The company, which serves a quarter of the country’s population, is fighting under the weight of its debt mountain of £ 20 billion and is in exclusive discussions with the private capital firm KKR to take care of the business.
The creditor loan of £ 3 billion, which was challenged in court By forks of rival bonds: it comes with an interest rate of 9.75 percent, plus rates. But Montague argued that the company needed to accept the agreement because the financial crisis of the “breeding” of Thames Water meant that the largest water company in the United Kingdom had only five weeks of cash sometimes in the last year.
“Thames in the last year has approached a lot to running without money entirely. There were moments in the last year we had five weeks of liquidity: executing a corporation of £ 20 billion in a five -week liquidity, honestly, the hair is rising, “parliamentarians told Tuesday.
Montague defended the agreement to give KKR the exclusive right to an agreement, although Thames Water received another five offers. “KKR’s offer was, from afar, the best, technical, financial, in terms of the commitment to provide equity, they were going,” he said.
He added that he expected that a large part of the Board would resign if the KKR agreement of £ 4 billion is confirmed: “When you have a change in the control of a large company like this, you must expect great changes in the Board, it may be that the new capital owners will want some people to stay, but the expectation is that the majority decrease.”