Florida utility acquires water systems Aqua America

The Florida Government Utility Authority (FGUA) has completed its acquisition of 71 water and wastewater systems from Aqua Utilities Florida, Inc., a division of Aqua America, Inc. (Bryn Mawr, PA), for $50 million. FGUA issued three bonds to finance the purchase of the systems, which are located in 12 Florida counties. “After a year of careful evaluation, analysis, and negotiation of a complex transaction, we successfully secured bond financing at rates favorable to customers to purchase and improve these systems,” said Robert Sheets, FGUA’s system manager. “There will be a brief operational transition period when Aqua will continue providing interim services, but we’re confident that customers will notice a public service difference very shortly,” he added. FGUA has declared that it will not raise rates immediately following the acquisition but that it will make some inflation adjustments over the next five years.