Aqualia has acquired 100% of the assets of the company Saur Colombia SAS, which brings together the French group's concessions in the Latin American country. The operation includes six concessionaire companies responsible for the production and distribution of drinking water and sewerage in eleven municipalities in three departments of the Colombian north coast, in concessions with an average duration of fifteen years.
With this operation, Aqualia expands its portfolio of concessions for the management and operation of the end-to-end water cycle in Colombia. The company began its concession activity in the country in 2020, when it acquired the companies that provided services in twelve municipalities in the departments of Córdoba. Subsequently, the company won the tender to provide service in the municipality of Villa del Rosario, department of Norte de Santander.
The six concessionaire companies that Aqualia acquires in the operation are: Aguas de la Península (Maicao), Aguas de Albania, Aguas de Aracataca, Aquamag Fundación, Aquamag El Retén and Aguas del Sur del Atlántico. The operation, pending approval by the competition surveillance authorities, represents a backlog estimated at 440 million euros (the cumulated turnover of the remaining duration of the concessions).
Aqualia expands its portfolio of concessions for the management and operation of the end-to-end water cycle in Colombia
The acquired concessions have a team made up of 290 specialists to serve 425,000 people in cities such as Maicao, which with 155,000 inhabitants is the second largest city in the department of La Guajira, or Fundación, a population of 93,000 inhabitants located in the department of Magdalena. The area of the Colombian north coast is one of the most dynamic in Colombia.
In this way, Aqualia doubles the population served in Colombia, reaching 900,000 inhabitants in six departments, which makes it the second largest private operator in the country, in accordance with its expansion and consolidation strategy.
In Colombia, Aqualia is also in the final phase of the project for the design, construction and operation of the El Salitre WWTP (Wastewater Treatment Plant), located in Bogotá. The plant, already in operation, treats a flow of more than 600,000 cubic meters of water per day (m3/day), which is equivalent to about 7,000 litres per second. The plant serves three million people in the Colombian capital and includes one of the largest facilities in Latin America to produce electricity from biogas.
Currently, Aqualia is present in four countries in Latin America: Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru, in addition to fourteen other countries in three continents.
