Berlinwasser readies water bid

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Berlinwasser readies water bid

Germany's largest water supplier, Berlinwasser International, has teamed up with Towngas, a Hong Kong-based utility, to prepare a bid for a stake in Shanghai Shibei Waterworks Co, the city's largest water company. Sources close to the Shanghai water asset management authority said the German water supplier has teamed up with Towngas, Hong Kong's biggest gas supplier controlled by real estate tycoon Lee Shau-kee. Towngas entered the Chinese mainland's water business last year. But Wong Sau-ying, head of corporate communications with Towngas, said she was unaware of Towngas's involvement in the Shibei project. Suez Group and Veolia Water, the world's two biggest water suppliers, have also been invited by the municipality for a possible bid. Still, the city may choose to transfer the assets of Shibei Waterworks to a listed water company. "We will participate in the bidding if there is one and at the moment we are looking forward to finding out which direction the process will lead," Andre Beck, manager of Berlinwasser's communications department, told Shanghai Daily yesterday via telephone from Berlin. In Shanghai there have been several meetings and "we have had the honor to welcome high ranking guests from the Shanghai government in Berlin," according to an e-mail statement from Berlinwasser. The company is also preparing partnerships on waste water treatment in Chengdu, Fuzhou, as well as other cities. Their partnership is somewhat similar to the Suez Group's relationship with New World Development Company Ltd, also a Hong Kong-based developer. The French company formed a joint venture, Sino French Water Development Co, with NWD to invest in the mainland's water sector in the early 1990s. （Shanghai Daily）