Hyder was a Welsh water, gas and electricity multi-utility and infrastructure company created in 1996.

In February 2000, the retail electricity and gas business under the Swalec brand was sold to British Energy for a reported £105m.

The cash boost, however, was not enough to prevent a 30% fall in pre-tax profits, and following the final outcome of the unfavourable Ofwat price review, Hyder was vulnerable to a takeover.

Hyder was acquired in September 2000 following a four-month takeover battle won by Western Power Distribution (WPD) - a subsidiary of the US utilities PPL Corporation and Southern Company.

The water subsidiary, Welsh Water, was sold by WPD to a company limited by guarantee while remaining subsidiaries in areas such as gas and engineering consultancy were sold off by management buy-out or other means, including Hyder Consulting and Hyder Business Services (HBS).