Texas has emerged as a hot spot for water and wastewater utility acquisitions, hosting approximately one-fourth of Bluefield’s tracked private water M&A deal flow since 2015. Texas’s heavily fragmented drinking water landscape lies at the heart of this activity, with both the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality and the Texas Public Utility Commission leading initiatives to drive market consolidation.
The opportunities for utility acquisitions in Texas have prompted an influx of deal flow and new market entrants. Well established investor-owned utilities (e.g., Essential Utilities, SouthWest Water, San Jose Water) and more locally focused firms (e.g., Undine, Quadvest) have played key roles in the Lone Star State. Bolstered by an increased focus on water infrastructure and fair market value legislation, new market entrants—including Central States Water Resources, California Water Service, NW Natural, and NextEra Water—have made Texas the most active state for M&A in the U.S.
Table of Contents
Section 1: Background, methodology, and market overview
Section 2: Private ownership of community water systems
- IOU saturation of private community water systems
- Utility M&A, 2015–present
- County-level private ownership trends
- 50-year military contract services players
Section 3: Leading IOU profiles
- C&R Water Supply
- Central States Water Resources
- Community Water Company
- Corix
- Crest Water Company
- Crystal Springs Water Company
- Essential Utilities
- HILCO United Services
- Lakeshore Utility Company
- Liberty Utilities
- MidSouth Water Services
- NextEra Water
- NW Natural Water
- Quadvest
- San Jose Water
- Southern Utilities Company
- SouthWest Water Company
- Undine Texas
- Utilities Investment Company
- Woodland Hills Water
