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In the matter of Thames Water Utilities Holdings Limited and in the matter of the Companies Act 2006 [2025] EWHC 338 (Ch), judgment 18 February 2025, Leech J
Philip Moser KC and Hugh Whelan of Monckton Chambers have acted successfully for Thames Water in its application to the Court to sanction its proposed restructuring plan. This approval paves the way for Thames Water to access significant further funding.
The restructuring plan was principally contested by a group of creditors holding Class B junior debt (known as the ‘Class B Creditors’) who advanced several Grounds of Objection to the plan. By their fourth objection, the Class B Creditors submitted that there was a ‘blot’ in the proposed restructuring plan because one of its clauses, known as the ‘June Release Condition’ (which provided certain conditions for the release of future tranches of funding), infringed the Chapter I Prohibition contained in section 2(1) of the Competition Act 1998.
Leech J dismissed this objection, holding that the Class B Creditors had failed to prove any of their allegations on the balance of probabilities, so the objection failed on the facts. Leech J further found that, even if the Class B Creditors had proved their allegations, he would have dismissed the objection in any event based on the application of the law to the facts, as there was neither a restriction of competition by object nor a restriction of competition by effect.
The Judgment can be found here.
Philip Moser KC and Hugh Whelan of Monckton Chambers, instructed by Linklaters, acted for the successful Applicant Company in relation to the competition law matters.