(1888PressRelease)
July 13, 2009 - PHILADELPHIA — As a result of the transaction, RWE shifted from being a majority shareholder of American Water, at 60.4 percent, to a 46.6 percent owner, according to Janney. RWE will continue to play a role in the American company as long as it owns a significant portion of American Water stock, but it plans to fully divest itself of American Water through additional stock sales.
The RWE move was part of an overall public offering of 29.9 million shares of American Water common stock at $17.25 per share on June 10, Janney said. In addition to RWE's sale of shares, American Water itself sold another 14.5 million shares in the transaction, raising $242.6 million which it will use to reduce its short-term debt.
RWE announced in November 2005 that it wanted to exit its water businesses in the United States and the United Kingdom so that it could focus on its European gas and electricity businesses. It had earlier bought a controlling interest in American Water, based in Voorhees, NJ. American Water says it is the largest investor-owned water and wastewater utility company in the United States, with public water systems serving 15 million people. It has operations in 32 states and the province of Ontario.
For more information about American Water, click here.
http://www.amwater.com/
###
