Philadelphia Suburban Subsidiary Acquires Woodloch Pines Wastewater System; Acquisition caps off year of significant growth
BRYN MAWR, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 31, 2003--Philadelphia Suburban Corporation (NYSE:PSC) announced today that its Pennsylvania wastewater subsidiary, Suburban Wastewater, purchased the wastewater system serving Woodloch Pines, a popular 250-acre family resort in Pike County, Northeastern Pennsylvania.
PSC's Vice President of Corporate Development, Mark J. Kropilak said, "We are pleased to add Woodloch Pines to our growing customer base in the northeastern region of Pennsylvania. The resort is a popular destination for many people and we look forward to extending our superior operational experience to guests of Woodloch Pines."
PSC Chairman Nick DeBenedictis said, "The acquisition of the wastewater system serving Woodloch Pines caps off an exciting year for PSC. We completed a major acquisition of the AquaSource systems which put us in nine new states and added 130,000 customers, we announced the agreement to acquire Heater Utilities, a 52,000-customer water and wastewater system in North Carolina along with completing numerous smaller 'tuck-in' acquisitions that fit with our growth-through-acquisition strategy. We also announced a plan to change our name to Aqua America - a name that demonstrates our truly national presence - and that will be effective January 16."
In addition to the Woodloch Pines acquisition announced today, PSC announced or completed the following growth ventures in 2003.
1. March 2003 - Consumers New Jersey Water Company (CNJ)
completed the purchase of the water system assets of Deep Well
Terrace, which serves approximately 150 residents in North
Hanover Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.
2. May 2003 - Consumers Illinois Water Company (CIWC) completed
the purchase of the assets of the Village of Grant Park water
system that serves approximately 1,500 residents in Grant
Park, Kankakee County.
3. July 2003 - PSC completed the previously announced acquisition
of AquaSource Inc.--a subsidiary of DQE (NYSE:DQE)--for an
estimated purchase price of approximately $195 million in
cash. The 130,000 customer acquisition expanded PSC's customer
base by more than 20 percent and its operations to a total of
15 states. PSC now has operations in Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Florida, North
Carolina, Maine, Missouri, New York, South Carolina and
Kentucky.
4. July 2003 - CIWC began serving the Prairie Trail and Enclave
subdivisions in Lake County Indiana by way of an
infrastructure extension of CIWC's existing Willowbrook
infrastructure. The new housing developments add nearly 1,500
residents upon construction completion.
5. August 2003 - Pennsylvania Suburban Water Company (PSW)
acquired the Jefferson Heights water system, serving
approximately 450 residents in Jefferson Township, Lackawanna
County.
6. August 2003 - PSW acquired Maple Crest water system, serving
approximately 100 residents in Kingston Township, Luzerne
County.
7. August 2003 - PSW purchased the assets of the Sunrise Estates
and Windsor Farm water system, serving approximately 350
residents in Kingston Township, Luzerne County.
8. October 2003 - PSW purchased the water system assets of Cedar
Lane Water Association, Inc. that provides water service to 95
residents in the development of the same name in Kingston
Township, Luzerne County, PA.
9. November 2003 - PSW has purchased the water system assets of
Pine Beach Water Supply that provides water service to 56
customers in a residential development of the same name
located in Paupack Township, Wayne County, PA.
10. November 2003 - PSC announced that it had reached an agreement
with ALLETE Water Services, a subsidiary of ALLETE, Inc.
(NYSE:ALE), to acquire its water and wastewater systems,
Heater Utilities, Inc., located in Cary, North Carolina. The
systems add 47,000 water and 5,500 wastewater customers to
PSC's base.
11. December 2003 - PSW completed the purchase of the water assets
of the Pinecrest Lake water system, which serves more than 600
residents in Tobyhanna Township, Monroe County.
12. December 2003 - PSC's Suburban Wastewater subsidiary announced
the acquisition of the Pinecrest Lake wastewater system
serving more than 600 residents along with several commercial
customers and a large regional high school.
13. December 2003 - CIWC announced the acquisition of the assets
of the Oakview Avenue Water Works, providing service to 325
residents in Joilet Township, Will County, Illinois.
14. December 2003 - CIWC announced the acquisition of the assets
of the Village of Indianola water system, serving
approximately 450 residents in Vermillion County Illinois.
15. December 2003 - PSC's North Carolina subsidiary, Hydraulics,
Ltd. announced the purchase of the Forest Pines water system
in Davidson, near Kannapolis, North Carolina serving
approximately 75 residents.
16. December 2003 - Hydraulics, Ltd. received approval to gain
numerous expanded territories to serve 10 new developer
systems that will provide water to more than 2,100 residents
throughout the state.
17. December 2003 - PSW announced receipt of approval from the
Pennsylvania Utility Commission (PUC) to serve the
600-resident Charlestown Meadows development in Chester
County.
18. December 2003 - Consumers Ohio Water Company was awarded a
three-year contract to operate the water system serving the
unincorporated areas of Ashtabula County in Northeastern Ohio.
Philadelphia Suburban Corporation is the nation's largest U.S.-based publicly-traded water utility, serving approximately 2.5 million residents in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Maine, Indiana, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky and North and South Carolina. Beginning January 16, 2004 PSC will be named Aqua America, Inc. and trade under the ticker symbol WTR. PSC's Pennsylvania operating companies will be named Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc.
CONTACT: Philadelphia Suburban Corporation
Randi Polanich, 610-645-1175
polanichr@suburbanwater.com
or
Donna Alston, 610-645-1095
alstond@suburbanwater.com
SOURCE: Philadelphia Suburban Corporation