An investment by KKR in United Envirotech, a Chinese water treatment firm, underscores the growing business opportunities in China’s water sector as the world’s second-largest economy wrestles with a water crisis.
The US private equity firm announced on Monday that it will invest $114m in the Singapore-listed builder and operator of large-scale wastewater treatment plants across China, through a convertible bond that could give it 38 per cent of the firm if fully converted.
The deal is the latest in a series of private equity investments in China’s water sector, which has become a target for investors as Beijing prepares to spend more to solve its water shortages. China’s water resources are just a quarter of the global average on a per-capita basis, and in rural China more than 300m people lack access to safe drinking water, according to the World Bank.