Two of Britain’s biggest water companies are exploring a sale of the business supplier they set up six years ago.

Sky News has learnt that Anglian Water Group and Northumbrian Water Group are in talks with potential bidders for Wave, which serves thousands of non-household customers in England and Scotland.

Wave, which provides water and wastewater services, was established in 2017 as a 50-50 joint venture.

The two shareholders took advantage of new water industry rules introduced in 2017 which opened the non-household market up to competition.

The identity of its suitors was unclear on Thursday, while the price that a buyer might pay could not be ascertained.

The decision of Anglian and Northumbrian to discuss a sale of Wave comes at a time of unprecedented public and political scrutiny of the UK water industry.

Last week, Sky News revealed that ministers were drawing up contingency plans to take Thames Water, the country’s biggest supplier with 15m customers, into temporary public ownership.

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David Black, the chief executive of regulator Ofwat, said this week that a number of companies in the sector were poised to raise new equity.

In a joint statement, Anglian and Northumbrian said: “Since market opening, we are proud that Wave has grown into one of the market leaders for retail water services, only last week winning Retailer of the Year at the Water industry Achievement Awards.

“As shareholders of a successful business, from time to time we get approaches from interested parties seeking to buy a stake in Wave, and we consider these offers alongside other opportunities for the continued growth and success of the business.”

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