Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE: WTR) announced today that its New Jersey
subsidiary has completed the purchase of the water system assets of
Bloomsbury Borough, which serves approximately 1,000 people. Bloomsbury
is adjacent to the company’s Greenwich service area in Hunterdon County
and has both residential and commercial customers. It will be operated
from Aqua’s nearby Northern Division in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
"We are very happy to have closed our second municipal acquisition in
three months,” said Aqua America Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis
referring to Aqua Pennsylvania’s acquisition of the Athens Township
water system in December 2009. "Last year, we acquired the assets of
four municipal systems. The municipal market represents a great
opportunity for continued customer growth. With 85 percent of Americans
served by municipal systems, there are lots of opportunities to pursue.”
Aqua is committed to helping resolve the difficulties facing
municipalities--as well as smaller private water systems—in today’s
difficult economic environment.
In January, the company’s Texas subsidiary, Aqua Texas, Inc., completed
the acquisition of the water system assets of the San Gabriel River
Ranch and Indian Springs subdivision water systems located in Williamson
and Travis counties respectively, and which collectively serve about 900
people.
"Acquisitions of this type help fill in our footprint in areas where we
have existing operations and allow us to continue to maximize the
economies of scale we realize as a large, regional water utility in
these areas,” explained DeBenedictis. "We will continue to pursue
opportunities like these, as well as larger platform-building purchases,
as we continue to execute our growth-through-acquisition strategy.”
Aqua America is one of the largest U.S.-based publicly-traded water
utility serving almost 3 million residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina,
Maine, Missouri, New York, South Carolina and Georgia. Aqua America is
listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR. The
company has been dedicated to the preservation and improvement of the
environment throughout its history which spans more than 100 years.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that address, among
other things: possible benefits from the acquired operations, including
the effect on the company’s economies of scale; the approximate number
of people served by the acquired system; the customer growth
opportunities for the company represented by municipal systems; and the
continuation of the company’s strategy to pursue the acquisition of such
systems. There are important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements including: the risk that the acquired
company’s business will not be successfully integrated; the costs
related to the transaction; the risk that anticipated benefits will not
be obtained or will not be obtained within the time anticipated; and
other key factors that we have indicated could adversely affect our
business and financial performance discussed in our Annual Report or
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009, which is on file
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Aqua America is not under
any obligation—and expressly disclaims any such obligation—to update or
alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise.
WTRF
