Southbury-based Heritage Village Water Company is being acquired by Connecticut Water Service Inc. (CTWS) in a deal estimated at $20.6 million, including the assumption by CTWS of Heritage Village’s roughly $4.8 million of debt. The acquisition involves a stock-for-stock merger transaction valued at approximately $15.8 million; holders of Heritage Village common stock will receive shares of CTWS common stock in a tax-free exchange.
Heritage Village serves about 4,700 water customers in Southbury, Middlebury and Oxford and another 3,000 wastewater customers in Southbury. The companies said that Heritage Village, which will maintain its name, will remain in Southbury for at least one year, and that all Heritage Village employees will be invited to join CTWS in their current positions.
Along with Maine Water Company, CTWS is a subsidiary of parent holding company Connecticut Water, based in Clinton, Conn. Connecticut Water’s unregulated water service provider, New England Water Utility Services Inc., has been the contract operator of Heritage Village Water Company’s water and wastewater operations and has been providing support services for over a decade.
The parties plan to file an application with the state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in the second quarter of 2016, with an anticipated closing by the end of this year. Plans call for Heritage Village to maintain its name. The companies said that the deal will not affect the rates or service for any of their customers.
