PICO Holdings, Inc. Announces Agreement for the Sale of 50,000 Long Term Storage Credits in Arizona for Gross Proceeds of $12...
December 02 2016 - 5:00AM
PICO Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PICO) announced today that its
wholly-owned subsidiary, Vidler Water Company, Inc., has agreed to
sell 50,000 Long Term Storage Credits stored in the Phoenix Active
Management Area of Arizona to the Arizona Water Bank Authority
(“AWBA”) for gross proceeds of $12.5 million. The agreement is
subject to final approval of the AWBA at its December 7, 2016
public meeting. The agreement provides for the sale to be
completed in the first quarter of 2017 if all conditions and terms,
including obtaining AWBA’s approval on December 7, 2016, are
satisfied.
Vidler’s President and Chief Executive Officer,
Dorothy Timian-Palmer commented, “Vidler is pleased to assist in
helping with the critical planning to prepare for shortages on the
Colorado River. Thankfully, Arizona had the foresight to
encourage water storage for times such as this and the Arizona
Water Bank continues to work toward protecting the state’s water
needs in the future.”
PICO’s President and Chief Executive Officer,
Max Webb commented, “Our Board intends to deliberate on the optimal
mechanics to return a substantial portion of the anticipated
proceeds to shareholders upon receipt of such proceeds from the
sale, which we expect to occur in the first quarter of 2017.
Our Board expects the ultimate mechanics will be guided by
conditions in the capital markets and the market for PICO stock at
the time we receive the proceeds.”
About PICO Holdings, Inc.
PICO Holdings is a diversified holding
company. Currently, we believe the highest potential return
to shareholders is from a return of capital to shareholders.
As we monetize assets, rather than reinvest the proceeds, we intend
to return the capital derived therefrom, less any working capital
requirements, back to shareholders through a stock repurchase
program or by other means such as special dividends taking into
effect liquidity requirements, debt covenants and any other
contractual and legal restrictions that may exist at the time.
As of September 30, 2016, our two major
investments were:
- Vidler Water Company, Inc., a water resource development
business; and
- a 56.9% interest in UCP, Inc. (NYSE: UCP), a publicly-traded
homebuilder and land developer in markets located in California,
Washington State, North Carolina, South Carolina and
Tennessee.
OTHER INFORMATION
At September 30, 2016, PICO Holdings, Inc.
had a market capitalization of $272 million, and 23,069,381 shares
outstanding.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements in this press release that are not
historical, including statements regarding the gross proceeds from
the sale, the timing for completing the sale, our ability to
satisfy all conditions and terms for the sale, our business
objectives, and our ability to monetize assets and return capital
to shareholders through stock repurchases or through other means,
are forward-looking statements based on current expectations and
assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties.
In addition, a number of other factors may cause
results to differ materially from our expectations, such as: an
inability to satisfy all conditions and terms for the sale, any
slow down or downturn in the housing recovery or in the real estate
markets in which UCP and Vidler operate; fluctuations in the prices
of water and water rights; physical, governmental and legal
restrictions on water and water rights; a downturn in some sectors
of the stock market; general economic conditions; prolonged
weakness in the overall U.S. and global economies; the performance
of the businesses; the continued service and availability of key
management personnel; and potential capital requirements and
financing alternatives.
For further information regarding risks and
uncertainties associated with our business, please refer to the
“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of our SEC
filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting
us at (858) 456-6022 or at
http://investors.picoholdings.com.
We undertake no obligation to (and we expressly
disclaim any obligation to) update our forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, subsequent events, or
otherwise, in order to reflect any event or circumstance which may
arise after the date of this press release, except as may otherwise
be required by law. Readers are urged not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date of this press release.
This news release was distributed by
GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com.
Max Webb
Chief Executive Officer
PICO Holdings, Inc.
(858) 456-6022
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