It wants to make sure that consumer interests, and not those of the shareholders, are at the forefront of any takeover.Last week the JEC announced that it was planning to take over the Waterworks Company.
Both companies, in which the States have majority interests, say the planned takeover would make strategic sense.Although a formal bid has yet to be tabled, the Waterworks has a share value of just over £1 million and owns land and assets and makes an annual profit of around £3 million.Consumer Council chairman Deputy Alan Breckon said: ‘The Council is trying to arrange a meeting with Mike Liston because concerns have been expressed about the takeover.’We want to make sure that people do not want these two companies to come together for the benefit of the shareholders.
Any benefits from this should be passed on to the consumers and the council wishes to make that clear at a meeting with Mr Liston.’Also, we don’t have any monopolies or mergers commission to look into who benefits from these kinds of takeovers – perhaps this is something the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority could look into.’Water charges in Jersey are about twice what they are in the UK and we also want to make sure there is a degree of transparency in the accounts,’ he added.At the time of the announcement of the takeover, Mr Liston said: ‘The water industry in Jersey, as elsewhere, is facing substantial investment costs to tackle the threats of water shortages caused by increasing demand and changing rainfall patterns, legislation on water purity, ageing water distribution infrastructure and environmental constraints on the development of new water sources – their position is unsustainable.’
