Manila Water to acquire Clark water concessionaire

Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. is set to acquire the water concessionaire for the Clark Freeport Economic Zone in Pampanga, the company told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. In a statement, Manila Water said it signed a sale and purchase agreement with Veoila Water Philippines Inc., Philippine Water Holdings Co., Inc. and Veoila Eau-Campagnie Generale Des Faux to acquire 100 percent of the outstanding capital stock of Clark Water Corp. The purchase also includes the acquisition of the receivables of VWPI and PWHI from Bonifacio Water Corp. "However, the Sale and Purchase Agreement is subject to the fulfillment by the parties of agreed conditions precedent," Manila Water said. CWC is the concessionaire for the Clark Freeport Economic Zone and operates under a 25-year concession granted by the Clark Development Corp. CWC is presently serving 1,800 locators with a billed volume of about 20 million liters per day. The customer base of CWC is primarily industrial and commercial accounts comprising 83 percent of its total water sales. Manila Water also said the acquisition of the shares in CWC is "not more than 10 percent of Manila Water's total book value." For the year's first half, Manila Water said its earnings slightly rose to P2 billion from P1.97 billion in the first half of 2010. - CMA/OMG, GMA News