Aqua America's Texas Subsidiary Purchases Water and Wastewater Systems

Aqua America, Inc. announced that its Texas subsidiary acquired the water and wastewater system assets of Gray Utility for $3.3 million.

The Gray systems are “tuck-in” acquisitions that serve approximately 6,300 people in Chambers, Jefferson and Liberty counties along the Gulf Coast near Baytown, which is about 40 miles from downtown Houston. Aqua Texas will manage operations for the new systems from its Spring office near Houston.

Aqua America continues to focus its growth-through-acquisition strategy in its faster-growing states such as Texas, where it has completed 10 acquisitions this year. Earlier this month, Aqua acquired the assets of the Bluewater Key Water Co. and Carrizo Water Co. in Henderson County and announced an agreement to purchase 51 water and five wastewater systems in Texas from American Water.The transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2011 following regulatory approval. Customer growth for Aqua Texas in 2010 is projected to be approximately 5%, the majority of which is from acquisitions.

“We’re glad to welcome our new customers along the Gulf Coast and to expand our footprint in Texas,” said Aqua Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis. “Broadening our customer base where we already have critical mass enables Aqua to achieve even greater economies of scale, which equates to better, more cost-effective service for our customers.”

Source: Business Wire