Most Malaysians know the YTL Corporation. Take the high-speed train from Kuala Lumpur International airport to the centre of the capital – YTL built it. Make a phone call in the country and it could be on YTL’s network. Its subsidiaries run luxury resorts, develop land, and manufacture cement. But tell them it supplies water to south-west England and that may surprise some in the south-east Asian nation.
In 2002, the bust US energy trader Enron sold 100% of Wessex Water to YTL Power International, a YTL Corp subsidiary, for about £545m plus £695m of Wessex debt. The Malaysian company saw its investment as the start of an expansion into Europe, although for its chair, Francis Yeoh, it was something more.
