Shares in Northumbrian Water were up on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the water company confirmed it had received a takeover proposal from a Hong Kong based conglomerate.

Northumbrian said that it had received a "non-binding indicative proposal from Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited regarding a possible cash offer".

The group emphasised that there was no certainty that any deal will be made.

On Monday the group announced that Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited was in the "preliminary stages of assessing a potential cash offer".

By 08:25 shares in Northumbrian Water were up 1.06 per cent on the FTSE 250 to 420.00 pence per share.

FTSE