Aqua America Inc. announced that its Texas subsidiary acquired the assets of the Bluewater Key Water Co. and Carrizo Water Co. in Henderson County, Texas, for $874,000. Aqua also announced that its North Carolina subsidiary acquired the wastewater system assets of Emerald Plantation Utilities Inc. in Emerald Isle, N.C., for $900,000.
The Bluewater/Carrizo system is a “tuck-in” acquisition that serves approximately 1,150 people near Aqua’s existing Lake Palestine operations in northeast Texas. Aqua continues to focus its growth-through-acquisition strategy in its faster-growing states, such as Texas, where it has completed eight acquisitions this year. Earlier this month, Aqua announced an agreement of sale to purchase 51 water and five wastewater systems in Texas from American Water, which serve nearly 4,200 water and nearly 1,100 wastewater customers (approximately 16,000 people). The transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2011, following regulatory approval.
Aqua North Carolina recently purchased the Emerald Plantation wastewater system at the request of the Carteret County Health Department and state regulators. Aqua North Carolina plans to make investments to improve the system’s infrastructure to provide better service to customers. Emerald Plantation serves a subdivision of approximately 60 residents and a shopping center. Aqua has acquired two water systems and one wastewater system in North Carolina this year.
“We continue to strategically plan and execute our growth efforts in the right states like Texas and North Carolina, fast-growing states where we have critical mass and can achieve economies of scale, which equates to better, more cost-effective service for customers,” said Aqua Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis. “And, in the case of troubled systems such as Emerald Plantation, we can put our experience and resources to work to resolve ongoing problems.”
Source: Business Wire
