BRYN MAWR, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE: WTR) announced today that its Pennsylvania
subsidiary has received approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility
Commission to acquire three systems serving more than 7,500 people. Two
of the systems are privately operated and one is owned by a municipal
authority.
Aqua America's Pennsylvania wastewater subsidiary, Little Washington
Wastewater Company (LWWC), has signed an agreement to provide wastewater
services to The Village at Valley Forge, a mixed-use community currently
under construction in the King of Prussia submarket of Philadelphia.
The development — described by its builder as "a mixed-use lifestyle
center, or ‘village' with its own town center" — is being built on the
125-acre site of the former Valley Forge Golf Club adjacent to the
nation's largest shopping mall, the King of Prussia Mall, in Upper
Merion Township, Montgomery County. It is also situated near the
intersection of four major highways including the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The project will include a mix of retail, office, residential, hotel and
entertainment use.
Under the agreement, Realen Properties of Berwyn, (Realen) will build
the collection system and pumping station, then dedicate it to LWWC
which will own and operate the wastewater system. In a separate earlier
agreement, Realen contracted Aqua America's non-regulated subsidiary
Aqua Resources, Inc. to build the pump station. Aqua America's largest
operating subsidiary, Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc., which already serves
public water to the remainder of the township, will provide public water
to the Village community as well. LWWC will purchase the wastewater
assets for $1. Aqua anticipates closing on the first phase of this
acquisition in the early part of the second quarter of 2012.
"This is a great growth venture for Aqua America companies," said
Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis. "The fact that our water and
wastewater subsidiaries will have the opportunity to provide service to
customers using infrastructure that is built by our non-regulated
business makes this a unique business opportunity as well as a great
growth venture as our water and wastewater utilities have the potential
to serve an additional 10,000 people."
Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. (Aqua) will acquire the water system of Mifflin
Township Water Authority (MTWA), located in Mifflin Township, Columbia
County. The system, which serves more than 1,500 residents in the
Mifflinville area, is currently under a Consent Order and Agreement with
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection that focuses on
unaccounted for water. Aqua will be paying $1.1 million at closing.
Aqua was also given approval to purchase the water and wastewater assets
of Total Environmental Solutions, Inc. ("TESI"), which serves 6,000
residents in the Beech Mountain Lakes resort community located in
portions of Butler and Dennison townships, Luzerne County for $1.5
million. The majority of the customers are residential.
Aqua anticipates the TESI and MTWA acquisitions will close late in the
first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2012.
"Aqua has the technical, regulatory and financial resources to
effectively operate these systems and invest in needed improvements to
meet current and future customer needs," DeBenedictis said. "These
acquisitions also benefit our customers through regionalization and
economies of scale."
Aqua America is one of the largest U.S.-based publicly-traded water
utilities serving almost 3 million residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina,
New York and Georgia. Aqua America is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that address, among
other things: the timing and projected benefits from the acquisitions;
the approximate number of people served by the acquired systems, the
expected build-out of the developments served by the acquired systems,
the impact the Company may have on the acquired 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; and other key
factors that we have indicated could adversely affect our business and
financial performance discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, 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
Aqua America, Inc.
Brian Dingerdissen
Director, Investor
Relations
610-645-1191
bjdingerdissen@aquaamerica.com
or
Donna
Alston
Director, Communications
610-645-1095
dpalston@aquaamerica.com
Source: Aqua America, Inc.
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