The UK's £50bn university pension fund has snapped up an 11% stake in Thames Water, in a move that will make it the third biggest shareholder in one of the country's most prized and traded infrastructure assets.

The Universities Superannuation Scheme, which is the UK's biggest pension fund, said in a statement today it is acquiring the stake from a consortium of Canadian and Australian investors, comprising the Australian pension fund QSuper, Canada's Alberta Investment Management Corp, and the OPTrust, a public pension fund from Ontario.