Bernhard Capital acquires Ascension Wastewater Treatment

An investor group led by Bernhard Capital Partners Management has announced the acquisition of Ascension Wastewater Treatment, a private sewer utility operator in Louisiana, the US.

Following the purchase, Bernhard Capital committed to a two-month rebate for all AWT customers to help them face the challenges and economic hardships of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This marks an average rebate of $90 for each customer over the two-month billing cycle.

Bernhard will credit around $1.5m to AWT customers in total. Furthermore, it is donating thousands of protective face masks to Our Lady of the Lake Ascension to help the hospital’s response to the pandemic.

Bernhard Capital partner Jim Bernhard said: “As investors, we have a social obligation to the communities we serve. We see no better way to help our customers, and the Ascension Parish community, than to provide some relief for their monthly obligations and needs at a time when families, small businesses and local hospitals are being so terribly impacted by this pandemic.”

AWT CEO Tom Pertuit said: “Our family has lived in Ascension Parish since 1971, and we have been in business here since 1979. We are friends with many of the people we serve, and it is our honor to support and help our customers during this challenging time.”

The acquisition is expected to boost sewer infrastructure and resiliency measures to AWT’s customer base of almost 17,000 residents.

Pertuit added: “Delivering exceptional service to our customers remains our highest priority. Aligning our organization with Bernhard Capital allows us to leverage the firm’s decades of experience, institutional knowledge and readily available resources into enhancing our services and infrastructure – helping to ensure our operations remain consistent, efficient and affordable.”

Among the initial plans following the acquisition include expansion into other communities that have critical environmental and infrastructure needs and focusing on improving community resiliency and utility service delivery.