Originally
Anglian Water, the company was one of the
British regional water companies privatised in 1989. Like many utility companies, AWG has attempted to diversify away from a core business which offers steady profits but has very limited potential for expansion, in its case through the acquisition in September 2000, of the Scottish support service and construction group
Morrison Construction. In March 2006, the construction division of the Morrison business was sold to
Galliford Try for £42m. The remainder of the business was split into two divisions, Morrison Facilities Services and Morrison Utilities Services, and, in March 2008, AWG sold Morrison Utility Services to two private equity firms,
Cognetas and Englefield Capital for £235 million. AWG was acquired by the
Osprey Consortium, made up of
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board,
Colonial First State, Industry Funds Management and
3i, in December 2006 for £2.25bn. In 2012, AWG sold
Morrison Facilities Services to
Mears Group for £24m. ==Subsidiaries==