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South West Water’s parent company Pennon has acquired Bournemouth Water from Sembcorp Holdings for a cash consideration of £100.3 million, the company said on Thursday.
Pennon will fund the 100 per cent stake acquisition in the water company through an equity capital raising of up to £100.3 million, announced today, or around 3 per cent of Pennon’s market cap.
The acquisition marks the first such deal following the conclusion of Ofwat’s PR14 price control determinations which have paved the way for greater M&A activity ahead of the start of market liberalisation in 2017.
Pennon said it believes this business is “highly complementary” to South West Water (SWW), adding that Bournemouth is “one of the highest performing water only companies in the UK across a range of indicators with outstanding customer service reflected in its Service Incentive Mechanism scores”.
Bournemouth Water has a customer base of around 400,000 and in 2014 had combined revenues of £49.2 million, operating profits of £15.3 million and profit before tax of £10.2 million.
“The combined business will provide an enhanced platform for innovation and growth ahead of market liberalisation in 2017 and will better serve both Bournemouth and the South West, delivering tangible benefits to customers and shareholders,” said Pennon executive director and chief executive of South West Water Chris Loughlin.
In an investor call following the announcement Loughlin added: “They have a different business mix to ours, and that adds value. There are other opportunities over and above, and complementary, to what we have.
“In terms of revenues, Bournemouth Water has 35 per cent from non-household, whereas our mix is much smaller than that. This helps to strengthen our position in the market now and post 2017.”
The deal, including assumed debt of £86.9 million, has a total transaction value of £187 million and will add a moderate 5 per cent to SWW’s regulated asset base.
It deal will automatically be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority for approval.
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