London's £4.2bn “super-sewer” attracts bids from stinking-rich tycoons

London’s £4.2bn “super-sewer” is attracting the ahem, stinking rich to fund the project.

The rulers of Abu Dhabi and the richest man in Hong Kong Li Ka-Shing are among bidders to build the 12.5 miles-long Thames Tideway tunnel. It can apparently fit three double-decker buses.

Bidders include retirement savings institution Universities Superannuation Scheme along with Canadian pension fund Borealis and Infracapital.

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Britain’s oldest private equity firm 3i, and Canadian pension fund CPP are putting in a joint bid.

Other high-profile joint bidders include financiers Dalmore Capital and Amber Infrastructure.

Backed by a government guarantee and partly funded by Thames Water, the sewage line will strech from Acton in West London to Beckton in the Docklands. The tunnel would stop 39m tonnes of untreated sewage being flushed into the river every day.

Billionaires are putting in bids with UBS for the project. According to The Sunday Times, four consortiums have passed the pre-qualification step.