Veolia puts UK water arm up for sale-report

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - French water and environmental services company Veolia Environnement (VIE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) has put its UK water arm up for sale to raise money to reduce its debt, The Sunday Times reported.

The company has hired Morgan Stanley and HSBC to sell a 48 percent stake in the group, which supplies water to more than 3.3 million customers in the South East of England, the newspaper said.

The Sunday Times said Veolia hoped to fetch about 400 million pounds ($656.5 million) for the holding.

Veolia Water UK was not immediately available for comment. ($1=.6093 Pound) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Simon Jessop)