Southern Water has received a commitment from its majority shareholder to invest £655m in additional new equity.

The investment will be made via a consortium led by funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management.

Southern Water said the move would the company to fund its planned investments in new infrastructure and performance improvements over the next five years, in addition to maintaining the “urgency and pace” of its turnaround plan.

The water company said that all of the funding would be used for customers’ benefit and invested directly into its operating company.

With the latest investment, the total that Macquarie-managed funds have invested in Southern Water on behalf of long-term investors has risen to £2.85bn since September 2021.

Southern Water CEO, Lawrence Gosden, said that the company was now “well prepared” for the 2025-30 regulatory period.

“Taken together with the reduction in debt, and no forecast dividends for the 2025-30 regulatory period, the new investment will directly support Southern Water’s financial resilience and improving performance,” Gosden added.

Between 2025–2030, Southern Water plans to allocate more than £8.5bn in investment and expenditure to improve services for its customers, including £3.3bn of environmental projects.

The company also stated that the initial £655m equity commitment is not conditional on the outcome of Southern Water’s ongoing appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is reviewing the final determination set by Ofwat in December 2024.

“We are grateful for the continued support of our shareholders and creditors, who recognise the progress made in our turnaround and have expressed confidence in the strength of our arguments to the CMA and the Government’s recent commitment to address the long-term attractiveness of the sector,” Gosden continued.

“We are focused on making continuous improvements to the service our customers expect and deserve, and we remain confident in our ability to maintain this positive momentum through to 2030 and beyond.”

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