Severn Trent Water has received a takeover approach from a group of international investors, including the Kuwaiti government.
The utility firm, which supplies tens of thousands of homes and businesses across Leicestershire, said the consortium included a Canadian infrastructure company and the Kuwaiti government investment fund.
Severn Trent said the approach was "at a very early stage" and there was no certainty that an offer would be made.
The company was formed following the privatisation of UK water authorities in 1989.
It supplies water to about 7.7 million people in total.
Last month it was announced group chief executive Tony Wray, who lives near Hinckley, was to retire in spring 2014.
