Global Water Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: GWRS), (TSX: GWR), a
pure-play water resource management company, has signed a
definitive agreement to acquire Las Quintas Serenas Water Company
located near Tucson in Pima County, Arizona.
The acquisition is expected to add approximately 2.5 square
miles of service area and 1,100 active water service connections.
The connections are primarily residential and are located in close
proximity to the service area of Global Water’s recently acquired
Francesca, Mirabell and Red Rock utilities. The Las
Quintas Serenas acquisition is expected to close in October subject
to customary conditions.
“The size and close proximity of Las Quintas Serenas to our
other utilities helps make it an ideal addition to our portfolio,”
stated Global Water Resources president and CEO, Ron Fleming. “We
also see the opportunity to advance and improve upon Las Quintas
Serenas’ long-standing service of providing safe, high-quality
water to the community with our industry-leading approach to
utility consolidation, automation, and water resource
management.”
As part of its initiatives for Las Quintas Serenas, Global Water
plans to upgrade the utility’s connections from manually read
meters to smart meters. Smart meters enable remote monitoring,
which supports greater operational efficiencies as well as
real-time automated notifications when water usage is high or close
to preset limits. Such alerts not only help conserve water, but
also help customers save on their monthly water bill.
Las Quintas Serenas is expected to be Global Water’s largest
acquisition since Red Rock Utilities in 2018. It would also
represent Global Water’s sixth acquisition in Pima County following
Rincon announced earlier this year, and the acquisitions of
Tortolita, Lyn-Lee, Mirabell, and Francesca completed in the fourth
quarter of last year.
Given the many benefits of consolidation for all stakeholders,
along with the associated support of regulatory authorities, the
company currently plans to make additional acquisitions in the
growth areas surrounding Phoenix and Tucson. These areas also fall
within the Arizona Sun Corridor, a megaregion that is expected to
double in population by 2040.
“This acquisition continues the expansion of Global Water’s
footprint in Pima County which we began last year,” noted Chris
Krygier, the company’s chief strategy officer. “We believe there
remain more acquisition opportunities in the highly-fragmented
water utility industry in Arizona, and particularly smaller
‘tuck-in’ acquisitions. These would be synergistic to our growing
portfolio of water utility companies and regional footprint, and
present an opportunity to improve service to these communities
using our unique approach to Total Water Management.”
About Global Water ResourcesGlobal Water
Resources, Inc. is a leading water resource management company that
owns and operates 16 utilities which provide water, wastewater, and
recycled water services. The company’s service areas are located
primarily in growth corridors around metropolitan Phoenix. Global
Water recycles nearly 1 billion gallons of water annually.
The company has been recognized for its highly effective
implementation of Total Water Management (TWM). TWM is an
integrated approach to managing the entire water cycle by owning
and operating water, wastewater and recycled water utilities within
the same geographic area in order to maximize the beneficial use of
recycled water. TWM includes additional smart water management
programs such as remote metering infrastructure and other advanced
technologies, rate designs, and incentives that result in real
conservation. TWM helps protect water supplies in water-scarce
areas experiencing population growth. To learn more, visit
www.gwresources.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements This press release includes certain
forward-looking statements which reflect the company's expectations
regarding future events. The forward-looking statements involve a
number of assumptions, risks, uncertainties, and other factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning
future net income growth, our strategy, acquisition plans and our
ability to complete additional acquisitions, our dividend policy,
trends relating to population growth, active service connections,
regulated revenue, the development of residential and commercial
properties within our service areas, the anticipated impacts from
the COVID-19 pandemic on the company, including to our business
operations, results of operations, cash flows, and financial
position, and our future responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
success of our rate application and the timing of any resulting
phase-in of new rates, and other statements that are not historical
facts as well as statements identified by words such as "expects",
"anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks",
"estimates", or the negative of these terms, or other words of
similar meaning. These statements are based on our current beliefs
or expectations and are inherently subject to a number of risks,
uncertainties, and assumptions, most of which are difficult to
predict and many of which are beyond our control. Actual results
may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in
political, economic, business, market, regulatory, and other
factors, including the duration and spread of the COVID-19
pandemic, its severity, the emergence and severity of its variants,
the actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, such as the
availability and efficacy of vaccines (particularly with respect to
emerging strains of the virus) and potential hesitancy to utilize
them, restrictions on travel and transportation, and how quickly
and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can
resume. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements, which reflect
management’s views as of the date hereof. Factors that may affect
future results are disclosed under the headings “Risk Factors” and
“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations” in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available at the SEC's
website at www.sec.gov. This includes, but is not limited to, our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020,
our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30,
2021, and subsequent filings with the SEC. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, except
as required by law, whether as a result of new information, future
developments or otherwise.
Company Contact:Michael J. Liebman SVP and
CFOTel (480) 999-5104 mike.liebman@gwresources.com
Investor Relations:Ron Both or Justin
LumleyCMA Investor Relations Tel (949) 432-7566GWRS@cma.team
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