July 6 (Reuters) - British water companies Anglian Water Group and Northumbrian Water Group are exploring a sale of their joint venture Wave, Sky News reported on Thursday.

Water companies in the country are facing scrutiny after Britain's largest water supplier Thames Water said last month it was seeking an equity raise to cope with rising costs and debt to avoid public ownership.

Water regulator Ofwat said on Wednesday Thames Water was a long way from needing emergency intervention, despite investor reluctance to put in more money into the ailing firm.

Anglian and Northumbrian did not immediately respond to Reuters' request to comment on their sale plans.

The identity of the bidders was unclear, while the price that a buyer might pay could not be ascertained, the Sky News report added.

Wave, founded as a 50-50 partnership in 2017, provides water and wastewater services to over 300,000 businesses in England and Scotland, according to the company's official website.

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)