Friday March 5, 2010
Aqua America New Jersey Subsidiary Purchases Municipal Water System in Hunterdon County
Source: Business Wire
“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.
Contact:
Aqua America, Inc.
Donna Alston
Manager Communication
610-645-1095
dpalston@aquaamerica.com
or
Brian Dingerdissen
Director, Investor Relations
610-645-1191
bjdingerdissen@aquaamerica.com
