HOUSTON - Azurix Corp. announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary,
Azurix North America, has been selected to negotiate agreements to provide
water and wastewater services to three more communities in the United
States.
The operations and maintenance contracts for communities in Louisiana
and New Jersey are valued in excess of $130 million. These contracts would
commence following completion of the definitive agreements with the municipalities.
"We are beginning to see the results of our efforts to expand the service
business in North America," said Rebecca Mark, chairman and CEO of Azurix.
"We are very gratified that our efforts to earn the confidence of these
new clients is proving successful. It demonstrates our ability to meet
the specific needs of municipal clients in a cost effective and creative
way."
The Council of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, voted last week to award
a $10 million five-year contract to Azurix North America to operate and
maintain its East Bank Wastewater Treatment Plant. The contract has two
five-year options for renewal giving it a potential value of up to $30
million. A competing bidder held the previous five-year contract.
"We are particularly pleased to be selected for this job because it is
so rare to be able to unseat an incumbent service provider. It was a tough
battle and we are happy to be the winner, but the real winners are the
citizens of Jefferson Parish," said John Stokes, president and CEO of
Azurix North America.
The Middlesex County Improvement Authority of Middlesex, N.J., also voted
last week to commence negotiations on a 20-year contract with Azurix North
America to operate and maintain water treatment and distribution systems
for the city of New Brunswick and the town of North Brunswick. Azurix
teamed with local contractor JJS Services for the contract, valued at
more than $120 million.
"New Brunswick and North Brunswick have shown a great deal of creativity
by teaming up to award a shared services contract," Stokes said. "Because
of economies of scale, each municipality will reap greater savings than
they could have achieved individually."
These latest contracts come on the heels of successful contract awards
in Wildwood, N.J., Fountain Lakes and Pine Lakes, Fla., Sunbelt Municipal
Utility District, Tex., and Mitchell, Ont. Azurix North America also holds
operating contracts for water and wastewater facilities in Seattle, Wash.,
Hamilton-Wentworth, Ont., Glynn County, Ga., and other locations throughout
the United States and Canada.
"We have dedicated a lot of effort to expand our residuals management
business over the last year, and now the operations and maintenance business
is following suit," Stokes added. "Over the next year, we expect to see
the engineering and underground infrastructure rehabilitation businesses
come on strong as well."
Azurix North America provides a full range of water and wastewater services,
including operations and maintenance, engineering, carbon regeneration,
underground infrastructure rehabilitation and biosolids management, to
more than 700 municipal, industrial and privately-owned facilities throughout
North America.
Azurix Corp. (www.azurix.com) is
a global company that owns, operates and manages water and wastewater
assets, provides water and wastewater related services, and develops and
manages water resources. The company offers e-business solutions in the
areas of procurement, engineering and design, water supply and storage
and billing and collections. The company's stock is traded on the NYSE
under the ticker symbol, "AZX."
##
This press release includes forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although Azurix believes that
its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance
that these expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations
reflected in the forward-looking statements include, among other things:
the ability to enter new water and wastewater markets in the United States
and in other countries; the timing and extent of deregulation of water
and wastewater markets in the United States and in other countries; regulatory
developments in the United States and in other countries, including environmental
and tax legislation and regulations; the timing and extent of efforts
by governments to privatize water and wastewater industries; the extent
of success in securing new service contracts, acquiring water and wastewater
assets and developing and managing water resources, including the ability
to qualify for and win bids for water and wastewater projects and contracts;
the ability to access the debt and equity markets during the periods covered
by the forward-looking statements, which will depend on general market
conditions and our credit ratings for our debt obligations; and other
factors identified in Azurix's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
