Kelda Group, the third-biggest British water company, said on Friday that it had agreed to sell Aquarion, its US water business, to Macquarie Bank of Australia for “approximately 860 million dollars” (723.0 million euros).Completition of the deal was expected in the second half of 2006, subject to regulatory clearances.
“Given the current high valuations of US water businesses and limited opportunities for acquisition without further major investment, we believe it is in the best interests of Kelda shareholders and Aquarion to sell the business and exit the US,” chief executive Kevin Whiteman said in the statement.
“We believe that the terms we have negotiated with Macquarie represent a positive outcome for our shareholders and provide the basis for strong and committed new ownership for Aquarion,” he added.
Kelda said no material profit or loss was expected from the sale.
The group is listed on London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares. At 1415 GMT, the share price in Kelda was up 2.66 percent at 809 pence. The FTSE 100 was 0.29-percent higher at 5,852.90 points.
On Monday, Macquarie Bank had signalled defeat over its bid to takeover the London Stock Exchange, saying there were no plans to raise its spurned offer of 1.5 billion pounds (2.2 billion euros, 2.63 billion US dollars).
Source: Agence France-Presse
