Aqua America fka WTR

[Pro-Life]

Aqua America Completes Major Expansion in Texas with Purchase of Water Systems from American Water
Date : 06/16/2011 @ 9:12AM
Source : Business Wire
Stock : Aqua America, Inc. (WTR)

http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=48092818&symbol=WTR

Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE: WTR), the largest publicly traded water utility in the state of Texas, announced today that its Texas subsidiary has completed the purchase of American Water Works Company, Inc.’s (NYSE: AWK) regulated Texas operations, significantly expanding its customer base in one of its fastest growing and energy-rich states.

Aqua Texas has added 51 water and five wastewater systems, which serve 4,200 water and 1,100 wastewater customers (approximately 16,000 people) from Texas American for approximately $6 million—the approximate book value of the assets. The systems, which will be run as a single unit out of Aqua’s Houston office, serve parts of Brazoria, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda and Montgomery counties in the greater Houston metropolitan area. The acquisition follows Aqua’s December 2010 acquisition of water and wastewater system assets of Gray Utility, which served approximately 6,300 people in Chambers, Jefferson and Liberty counties along the Gulf Coast near Baytown, which is about 40 miles from downtown Houston. Collectively in 2010, Aqua Texas purchased 10 systems and increased its customer base by approximately six percent, nearly 90 percent of which was from acquisitions. Since entering the state in 2003, Aqua will have grown its customer base by 50 percent upon closing the Texas American transaction.

“These transactions demonstrate the success of our growth-through-acquisition strategy,” said Aqua America Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis when the deal was announced last year. “We are proud to be investing while strategically planning and executing our growth efforts in states like Texas where our operations already have critical mass, and is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. Texas is also one of our areas of operations that offers opportunities for the water-energy nexus that could have a positive impact on the future of our operations.”

Aqua is working to concentrate its customer portfolio in states that demonstrate a positive regulatory environment. Aqua continues to pursue a growth-through-acquisition strategy that spreads weather and regulatory risks and opportunities over a number of states, while leveraging greater economies of scale and customer growth.

In addition to customer growth, energy-rich Texas with its natural gas and energy resources, offers other potential business opportunities for Aqua America. Speaking before the Citi Climate Change and Water Conference last week in London, England, DeBenedictis said that the water-energy nexus will play a larger role in the future of the company with respect to environmental and business opportunities.

“We are prepared to take a responsible and active role in what is becoming the next energy boom in Texas, Pennsylvania and some other states—natural gas drilling,” said DeBenedictis. “Shale drilling for natural gas is a very water intensive business that can provide an economic boost well into the future if it’s done right environmentally,” said DeBenedictis. “We are currently focusing on the ‘clean water’ aspects of the drilling business and will pursue the growth opportunities provided by the shale drilling industry, which is thought to be at the dawn of its life.”