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The German conglomerate RWE said yesterday it has now completed the $4.6 billion purchase of American Water Works
Co. Inc. and its subsidiaries, including Charleston-based West Virginia-American Water Company.
West Virginia was the last of 27 states to approve the sale.
The city of Charleston is still looking into purchasing West Virginia- American's Charleston plant -- the heart of West
Virginia-American's operations in the Mountain State. A 40-year-old agreement between West Virginia-American and the
city appears to give the city an option to purchase the plant.
American Water, headquartered in Voorhees, N.J., has 6,600 employees and provides water and sewage services to at
least 15 million people in 27 states and three Canadian provinces.
In West Virginia, West Virginia-American provides water directly and indirectly to about 500,000 people, the largest being
in Cabell and Kanawha counties. They employ about 400 people in the state, including about 225 in the Kanawha
Valley.
Dietmar Kuhnt, president and CEO of RWE, said "The combination of American Water with the RWE Group clearly
establishes RWE as the new leader in North America's regulated water business. American Water enables Thames
Water-RWE Group to increase its customer base to approximately 70 million worldwide, thus consolidating our position as
No. 3 in the global water market."
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