BRYN MAWR, PA, July 30, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Aqua America Inc. announced today that its North Carolina and Pennsylvania subsidiaries recently completed utility purchases in their respective states.
Aqua North Carolina Inc. has purchased the wastewater assets of Willow Creek Holdings, which serves 400 residents at the Willow Creek, Cascade Ridge and the Bluffs at Willow Creek Subdivisions, for $1,500. This system also serves the Westchester Academy and High Point Country Club, and is located in Davidson County just west of High Point, NC. In addition to the residential customers, the acquisition will add two large commercial enterprises to Aqua's customer base. Aqua will invest about $200,000 for capital improvements to the system.
"Willow Creek plays an important role in the company's growth-through-acquisition strategy," said Aqua North Carolina President Neil Phillips. "The purchase of these types of systems often lead to additional growth opportunities by expanding our local service territory and putting us in the strategic position to serve other nearby systems."
This is Aqua North Carolina's fourth acquisition this year, excluding its purchase of Heater Utilities which was announced last year and closed in June 2004. The Heater acquisition added an additional 54,000 customers to Aqua's North Carolina operations.
Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. has purchased the water system assets of Fieldcrest Water Association for $25,000. Fieldcrest serves about 120 residents in Jackson Township, Luzerne County, PA. This is Aqua Pennsylvania's eleventh acquisition this year.
Aqua America is the largest U.S.-based, publicly-traded water utility serving about 2.75 million residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Maine, Missouri, New York, and South Carolina.
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