Utilities Acquisitions in Texas

Northwest Natural Holding Company (NYSE: NWN) has acquired an 80% interest in SiEnergy from Ridgewood Infrastructure. SiEnergy is a regulated natural gas distribution utility serving residential and commercial customers in the greater Houston, Dallas and Austin metropolitan areas; under Ridgewood's ownership the customer base grew from ~20,000 to over 70,000.

LP First Capital has acquired REI Utility Services, a Texas-based provider of joint-use management and field engineering services for electric cooperatives. The transaction was supported by unitranche debt and an equity co-investment from Graycliff Partners and Brookside Capital Partners; REI's management team will remain in place as the firm pursues geographic and service expansion.

Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP) has acquired USA Water from Warren Equity Partners, with management reinvesting and continuing to lead the company. Headquartered in Rosenberg, Texas, USA Water provides operations and maintenance (O&M) services for water and wastewater systems across the Southeast United States; LLCP plans to broaden its service capabilities and geographic footprint through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

Gainline Capital Partners has purchased a majority interest in Flagship Power, a Texas-based retail electricity provider founded by Utility Rescue Holdings. Utility Rescue remains a significant shareholder and Flagship’s management team will stay in place as Gainline supports growth and the launch of new services such as "Flagship PLUS."

SJW Group’s Texas subsidiary, SJWTX Inc. (dba Canyon Lake Water Service Company), has closed the acquisition of Texas Country Water (TCW) in Comal County, Texas. The acquisition — the fourth Texas purchase by SJWTX in the past 12 months — adds more than 100 customers to SJWTX’s footprint as the company continues geographic expansion and infrastructure investment in the Austin–San Antonio growth corridor.

SJW Group’s Texas subsidiary SJWTX Inc. (dba Canyon Lake Water Service Company) has closed the acquisition of the Kendall West and Bandera East water/wastewater utilities in Kendall, Bandera and Medina counties, Texas. The two utilities add more than 1,600 service connections (serving ~4,000 people) and expand SJWTX's footprint in a rapidly growing region as part of continued scale and infrastructure investment in its Texas operations.

Warren Equity Partners formed USA Water Holdings and, together with the platform, acquired Si Environmental (SIE) as the inaugural add-on to a buy-and-build water and wastewater platform. USA Water, based in Houston, will pursue consolidation of small and mid-sized water/wastewater utilities and O&M service providers while SIE will continue to operate as a subsidiary under its existing management.

Ridgewood Infrastructure LLC has acquired SiEnergy, LP, a regulated natural gas local distribution company serving roughly 25,000 customers across the Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin, Texas metropolitan areas. Ridgewood said the deal expands its portfolio of essential infrastructure assets and will support SiEnergy’s continued growth under its existing management team.

Ara Partners acquired a majority stake in Centric Gas Services, a Magnolia, Texas-based local natural gas distribution platform that serves approximately 14,500 customers across Texas. The Barnwell family, founders of Centric, retain a substantial minority ownership while Ara Partners provides capital and strategic support to expand Centric’s infrastructure and service footprint.