- Agreement Reflects Connecticut Water’s
Commitment to Continue to Protect Lands for Open Space and Passive
Recreation for the Benefit of the State of Connecticut and its
Residents
- Agreement Will Serve the Public Interest and Have Mutually
Beneficial Outcomes for the State and the Companies
Connecticut Water Service, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTWS) (“Connecticut
Water”) today announced that it has reached an agreement with
Connecticut Fund for the Environment (“CFE”) to provide additional
environmental safeguards that will take effect with the closing of
Connecticut Water’s previously announced combination with SJW Group
(NYSE: SJW), which is expected in the first quarter of 2019.
The agreement includes provisions related to water company lands,
potential recreation programs and continued responsible water
resource management.
Attorney Curtis Johnson, President, and Katherine Fiedler, Legal
Fellow, signed the agreement on behalf of CFE and indicated that
CFE would file a brief in the pending docket for the merger of
Connecticut Water and SJW Group. The brief would note that CFE
“…does not oppose the transaction and that it supports the
provisions [in the agreement] that provide for additional
safeguards and are in the public interest.” In a prior brief
that was filed with PURA in the pending docket on October 26, 2018,
CFE noted that, “…these conditions will have mutually beneficial
outcomes for the State [of Connecticut] and the Companies and will
serve the public interest.” The agreement is also responsive to
comments related to water company lands filed by members of the
public in the pending docket.
Maureen Westbrook, Vice President of Customer & Regulatory
Affairs of Connecticut Water, noted, “This agreement is consistent
with Connecticut Water’s history of working collaboratively with
environmental advocates on matters of common interest and our
record of environmental stewardship. It reflects our
commitment to protecting lands for open space for the benefit of
the State of Connecticut and its residents, above and beyond any
statutory requirements. Further, it demonstrates our
understanding of the importance of water resources in the state and
our role as a water utility company in protecting those valuable
resources.”
Eric Thornburg, Chairman, President and CEO of SJW Group, said,
“SJW shares the strong environmental ethic of our colleagues at
Connecticut Water, and we support the agreement with CFE as a way
to reassure environmental advocates of our willingness to
collaborate on matters of shared interest. We look forward to
working together to advance the goals of protecting valuable water
company lands and water resources in Connecticut.”
Connecticut Water, through its regulated water utility
subsidiaries, owns over 6,500 acres of land in Connecticut and
2,200 acres in Maine, most of which are and will continue to be
managed for the protection of drinking water supply sources.
Since 2008, Connecticut Water has worked with local communities to
transfer or apply permanent conservation easements as protected
open space to 1,037 acres of land in Connecticut and 1,153 acres in
Maine. Connecticut Water has no plans to sell any of its
lands, but collaborated with CFE to develop the agreement to
provide assurances necessary to give stakeholders full confidence
that Connecticut Water’s approach to land management will continue
under the ownership of SJW Group. Special considerations were
given to 480 acres of the land owned by Connecticut Water that are
either held for potential future water supply use or defined by the
Connecticut Public Health Regulations to be Class III lands because
they do not contribute to the water quality of the public drinking
water supply sources.
Key provisions of the agreement are that Connecticut Water
will:
- Honor the current statutory requirements for notice and
prioritization for future land dispositions even if the current law
changes and such notification are no longer required. This
will give the State of Connecticut, municipalities, other water
companies and state and local land conservation organizations the
opportunity to acquire the lands;
- Establish a process to determine if the State, municipalities,
other water companies or state or local land conservation
organizations have interest in acquiring any of the 21 properties
that have been identified as no longer needed for public water
supply purposes. If there is an interested party, Connecticut
Water has agreed to additional steps to allow these entities the
opportunity to acquire the property.
- Evaluate the potential to establish additional passive
recreational opportunities on water company land while providing
for the protection of the public water supply sources. This
would be in addition to the recreational program that has been
permitted at the Shenipsit Lake Reservoir for the past 25 years and
trail programs on select company owned lands.
- Commit to continue responsible water resource management
programs and agree not to use Connecticut water sources or supplies
for the out-of-state sister companies of SJW Group in California or
Texas.
These environmental commitments add to the significant benefits
already identified for Connecticut Water’s customers, employees and
communities as a result of CTWS’s combination with SJW
Group. The new organization will maintain the
longstanding commitments of Connecticut Water and SJW Group to
outstanding customer service, which will be enhanced by sharing of
best practices, operational expertise and more extensive resources.
There will be no change in customer rates and no employee layoffs
or job cuts as a result of the transaction. Connecticut
Water’s customers will continue to be supported locally by the
existing team of passionate, dedicated employees; the New England
headquarters will remain in Connecticut with the existing
Connecticut Water leadership team; investment in infrastructure
will remain at the current pace; there will be continued support
for water conservation initiatives; and the combined company will
maintain participation and financial support for community
organizations and events. Additional information on the
combination is available at www.sjw-ctws.com.
About CTWS
CTWS is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in
Clinton, Connecticut. CTWS is the parent company of The Connecticut
Water Company, The Maine Water Company, The Avon Water Company, and
The Heritage Village Water Company. Together, these subsidiaries
provide water service to more than 450,000 people in Connecticut
and Maine, and wastewater service to more than 10,000 people in
Connecticut.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This document contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as
amended. Some of these forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “believes,”
“expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,”
“intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “projects,” “strategy,” or
“anticipates,” or the negative of those words or other comparable
terminology.
The accuracy of such statements is subject to a number of risks,
uncertainties and assumptions including, but not limited to, the
following factors: (1) the risk that the conditions to the
closing of the transaction are not satisfied, including the risk
that required approval from the shareholders of Connecticut Water
for the transaction is not obtained; (2) the risk that the
regulatory approvals required for the transaction are not obtained,
on the terms expected or on the anticipated schedule; (3) the
effect of water, utility, environmental and other governmental
policies and regulations; (4) litigation relating to the
transaction; (5) the ability of the parties to the transaction
to meet expectations regarding the timing, completion and
accounting and tax treatments of the proposed transaction;
(6) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance
that could give rise to the termination of the transaction
agreement between the parties to the proposed transaction;
(7) changes in demand for water and other products and
services of Connecticut Water; (8) unanticipated weather
conditions; (9) catastrophic events such as fires,
earthquakes, explosions, floods, ice storms, tornadoes, terrorist
acts, physical attacks, cyber-attacks, or other similar occurrences
that could adversely affect Connecticut Water’s facilities,
operations, financial condition, results of operations, and
reputation; (10) risks that the proposed transaction disrupts
the current plans and operations of Connecticut Water;
(11) potential difficulties in employee retention as a result
of the proposed transaction; (12) unexpected costs, charges or
expenses resulting from the transaction; (13) the effect of
the announcement or pendency of the proposed transaction on
Connecticut Water’s business relationships, operating results, and
business generally, including, without limitation, competitive
responses to the proposed transaction; (14) risks related to
diverting management’s attention from ongoing business operations
of Connecticut Water; (15) the trading price of Connecticut
Water’s common stock; and (16) legislative and economic
developments.
In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and
uncertainties that relate more broadly to Connecticut Water’s
overall business and financial condition, including those more
fully described in Connecticut Water’s filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including, without
limitation, its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2017 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for
the period ended June 30, 2018. Forward-looking statements
are not guarantees of performance, and speak only as of the date
made, and neither Connecticut Water nor its management undertakes
any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements
except as required by law.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
This communication relates to the proposed acquisition of
Connecticut Water by SJW Group. In connection with the
proposed transaction, on October 2, 2018, Connecticut Water filed a
definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A and the accompanying
GREEN proxy card with the SEC. SHAREHOLDERS OF
CONNECTICUT WATER ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT
AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC
BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED
TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders will be
able to obtain a copy of the definitive proxy statement and the
other documents filed by Connecticut Water with the SEC free of
charge at the SEC’s web site, http://www.sec.gov, and shareholders
of Connecticut Water will also be able to obtain
transaction-related documents free of charge by directing a request
to Connecticut Water’s Corporate Secretary, Kristen A. Johnson, at
Connecticut Water Service, Inc., 93 West Main Street, Clinton,
Connecticut 06413, or by telephone at 1-800-428-3985.
Participants in Solicitation
SJW Group and its directors and executive officers, and
Connecticut Water and its directors and executive officers, may be
deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the
holders of Connecticut Water’s common stock in respect of the
proposed transaction. Information about the directors and
executive officers of SJW Group is set forth in the proxy statement
for SJW Group’s 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was
filed with the SEC on March 6, 2018. Information about the
directors and executive officers of Connecticut Water is set forth
in the proxy statement for Connecticut Water’s 2018 Annual Meeting
of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 6,
2018. Investors may obtain additional information regarding
the interest of such participants by reading the definitive proxy
statement regarding the proposed transaction, which was filed on
October 2, 2018, and other relevant materials filed with the SEC
regarding the proposed transaction.
News media contact:
Daniel J. Meaney, APR
Director of Corporate Communications
Connecticut Water Service, Inc.
93 West Main Street, Clinton, CT 06413-1600
(860) 664-6016
Grafico Azioni Connecticut Water Services (NASDAQ:CTWS)
Storico
Da Mag 2024 a Giu 2024
Grafico Azioni Connecticut Water Services (NASDAQ:CTWS)
Storico
Da Giu 2023 a Giu 2024