Hawaii Water Service Enters Into Agreement to Acquire Kapalua Water Company and Kapalua Waste Treatment Company

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hawaii Water Service (Hawaii Water), a subsidiary of California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT), announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Maui Land and Pineapple Company to acquire its Kapalua Water Company water utility assets and Kapalua Waste Treatment Company wastewater utility assets, and to provide water and wastewater utility service to its approximately 1,000 service connections in the Kapalua Maui resort, subject to certain closing conditions including completion of diligence and Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approval.

Maui Land and Pineapple Company, through its two subsidiaries, Kapalua Water Company and Kapalua Waste Treatment Company, owns and operates the potable water, non-potable water and wastewater systems that serve homes, hotels, condominiums, golf courses, restaurants, and other resort amenities located within the Kapalua resort on the northwest corner of Maui. Hawaii Water will also serve the expansion areas of Kapalua as they are developed by the Maui Land and Pineapple Company.

“One thing that makes this such a good fit is that we share Kapalua’s world class commitment to its visitors and residents,” said Group’s President and Chief Executive Officer Martin A. Kropelnicki. “Our purpose as a company is to improve the quality of life for those we serve, and I look forward to welcoming the Kapalua ’ohana to our company,” he said. 

About Hawaii Water Service and California Water Service Group

Hawaii Water Service was formed in 2003 with the acquisition of Ka’anapali Water Corporation. Today, Hawaii Water provides water and/or wastewater service to over 4,500 service connections at Ka’anapali (Maui), Kukio and Waikoloa (Big Island) resorts, and in Waikoloa Village (Big Island), and Pukalani (Maui). Hawaii Water is also under contract to acquire the Kalaeloa Water Company which provides potable water and wastewater service to the Kalaeloa community on Oahu. California Water Service Group is the parent company of California Water Service, Washington Water Service, New Mexico Water Service, Hawaii Water Service, CWS Utility Services, and HWS Utility Services. Together, these companies employ 1,184 people who provide regulated and non-regulated water service to nearly 2 million people in California, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii.  California Water Service Group’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CWT.” Additional information is available online at .

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Act"). The forward-looking statements are intended to qualify under provisions of the federal securities laws for "safe harbor" treatment established by the Act. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information, expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections, and management's judgment about the Company, the water utility industry and general economic conditions. Such words as would, expects, intends, plans, believes, estimates, assumes, anticipates, projects, predicts, forecasts or variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from what is contained in a forward-looking statement. Factors that may cause a result different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to: ability to complete the acquisition and ability to operate the Kapalua water and wastewater systems in an accretive manner; governmental and regulatory commissions' decisions, including decisions on proper disposition of property; consequences of eminent domain actions relating to our water systems; changes in regulatory commissions' policies and procedures; the timeliness of regulatory commissions' actions concerning rate relief and other actions; changes in water quality standards; changes in environmental compliance and water quality requirements; electric power interruptions; housing and customer growth trends; the impact of opposition to rate increases; our ability to recover costs; availability of water supplies; issues with the implementation, maintenance or security of our information technology systems; civil disturbances or terrorist threats or acts; the adequacy of our efforts to mitigate physical and cyber security risks and threats; the ability of our enterprise risk management processes to identify or address risks adequately; labor relations matters as we negotiate with unions; changes in customer water use patterns and the effects of conservation; the impact of weather, climate, natural disasters, and diseases on water quality, water availability, water sales and operating results, and the adequacy of our emergency preparedness; and, other risks and unforeseen events. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the cautionary statements included in this paragraph, as well as the annual 10-K, Quarterly 10-Q, and other reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Company assumes no obligation to provide public updates of forward-looking statements.

Media Contact

Tom Smegal (investors)

, 408-267-8200

Yvonne Kingman (media)

, 310-257-1434