Slaughter and May advised United Utilities Group PLC on its equity issue, comprising a placing, retail offer and director subscriptions, of approximately 8.9% to raise gross proceeds of approximately £800mn. The proceeds of the equity issue will be used to fully fund the equity element of c. £2.5bn of incremental investment for the AMP8 regulatory cycle (FY2025-2030).
The placing was conducted through an accelerated book-building process for institutional investors. As part of the placing, United Utilities received a cornerstone commitment from ATLAS Infrastructure with the Future Fund to participate in the placing in respect of £400mn in aggregate.
Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch and J.P. Morgan Securities plc acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners, together with Goldman Sachs International, BNP PARIBAS and RBC Europe Limited as Joint Bookrunners. Alongside this accelerated bookbuild process, United Utilities made a separate offer to retail investors in the United Kingdom only to participate in the placing via the RetailBook platform, and certain directors of United Utilities also subscribed for shares.
Slaughter and May has been working closely with United Utilities’ General Counsel and Company Secretary, Simon Gardiner. United Utilities is the provider of essential water and wastewater services to around eight million people across the North West of England.
Augustine Chan / Trainee, Kane Moylett / Trainee