A major utilities company is now in control of Bristol Water after it bought it for hundreds of millions of pounds.
Pennon announced this morning (Thursday, June 3) that it has acquired the company from its current US, European and Japanese owners.
The Exeter-based water giant, which already owns South West Water, says it will "continue to invest" in the business for the benefit of customers.
The £814m deal will see it take on £389m of Bristol Water’s debts, bringing the equity value of the sale to £425m.
Bristol Water serves about 1.2 million people in Bristol, North Somerset and areas of Bath, North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire, and has a workforce of about 500 people.
'Benefit Bristol customers'
Susan Davy, group chief executive at Pennon, said: "The acquisition of Bristol Water brings great people and a great business to Pennon and I am hugely excited about building a future together.
"We see attractive opportunities to continue to invest in the Bristol Water business to deliver enhanced resilience and water security to benefit customers in Bristol and beyond.
"This latest acquisition, building on a strong heritage and history, firmly cements Pennon as one of the leading UK water and waste water companies."
It has acquired Bristol Water Holdings UK Limited and its subsidiaries, including Bristol Water PLC, from iCON Infrastructure LLP and ITOCHU Corporation.
Pennon had cash to splash after selling waste management business Viridor last year for £4.2 billion.
It used about £1 billion to reduce its debt and has since been working to identify opportunities for the remainder.
The FTSE 250 company also announced today that it plans to return £1.9bn to shareholders.
Ms Davy added: "This has been a pivotal year for the group as we have repositioned Pennon to focus on driving sustainable growth in the UK water sector, building stability for the longer term, and recognising ongoing shareholder loyalty."
