Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament Charlie Maynard applied to the UK Supreme Court to hear his challenge against Thames Water’s restructuring on Friday (13 June), according to 9fin sources.

Maynard contested the distressed utility company’s restructuring plan on public interest grounds at the first instance and appeals stage arguing that its customers would be better off if the company was placed into a government-run administration (SAR).

The Lib Dem MP was denied leave to appeal by the Court of Appeal and so has taken his challenge directly to the Supreme Court, two sources familiar with the matter said. The Supreme Court will now determine whether or not to hear his appeal in the coming weeks, one of the sources said.

Thames Water’s restructuring plan — which was sanctioned by the High Court in February and upheld by the Court of Appeal in April — inserted a notional £3bn bridge facility (of which £1.5bn was immediately available) to avert a cash crunch in March and allow the business to find a new owner and cut its nearly £20bn debt pile with a second restructuring.

But Thames Water’s preferred bidder, KKR, revoked its £4bn takeover bid for the company at the start of the month. Instead, senior creditors have proposed their own takeover bid that would cut debt down to around £13bn while asking the government for clemency for historical sewage spills and regulatory breaches.

Maynard’s appeal threatens to delay Thames Water’s second restructuring by months, depending on how quickly and whether the Supreme Court decides to take up the appeal.

“Our liquidity extension plan was sanctioned by the High Court and upheld at the Court of Appeal,” a spokesperson for Thames Water said.

“We remain focused on securing a market-led solution to restoring Thames Water to financial health, and unlocking the funds required to deliver better services and outcomes for our customers and the environment,” the spokesperson added.

Maynard declined to comment.

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