Shareholders Approve Essential Utilities–American Water Merger to Expand National Water and Gas Footprint

Planned Combination Aims to Broaden Essential Utilities' Service Footprint

Essential Utilities and American Water announce that shareholders overwhelmingly approve proposals to combine the two regulated utilities, a move that positions Essential to expand its reach across water, wastewater and natural gas systems. The companies report nearly 95% of Essential Utilities shareholders and roughly 99% of American Water shareholders support the transaction, underpinning management’s push to create a larger national water-and-energy services platform. Executives frame the tie-up as a way to leverage American Water’s national scale and Essential’s multi-utility capabilities to improve reliability, accelerate infrastructure investment and broaden operational best practices across more states and military installations.

Industry officials say the combination is framed around operational integration rather than financial engineering, with both companies stressing commitments to safe, clean and reliable service as central to their message. American Water, which serves more than 14 million people in 14 states and on 18 military installations, brings a large regulated water and wastewater footprint and roughly 6,700 employees. Essential Utilities emphasizes its existing natural gas and water operations and says the merger will support sustainable growth and operational excellence by sharing technology, emergency response capabilities and regulatory experience across a broader portfolio of utility operations.

Regulators and local stakeholders remain a focus as the companies prepare for integration, with officials noting that service continuity, rate-setting oversight and capital planning are likely to drive approval conditions. Both firms say they are engaging with public utility commissions and regulators to address local service expectations, infrastructure needs and customer protections, and they stress that any post-closing integration will respect state regulatory frameworks and the statutory obligations that govern utilities.

Regulatory Pathway and Timeline

The companies state the deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027 but remains contingent on customary closing conditions, including Hart‑Scott‑Rodino Act clearance and required approvals from applicable public utility commissions. They file final voting results with the SEC and reiterate that regulatory sign-offs will shape the timetable and any required commitments to customers and states.

Stakeholder Outreach and Filings

Shareholder meetings in Camden, N.J., and Bryn Mawr, Pa., reflect broad investor support, and both companies emphasize continued engagement with regulators, customers and communities during the approval process. Additional transaction details are posted at americanwateressentialutilitiesmerger.com, and the firms point stakeholders to their corporate websites and social channels for updates.