17th Aug 2006 07:01
Homeserve Plc17 August 2006 Homeserve signs a marketing agreement with FirstEnergy providing access to an additional 3.4m households Homeserve plc announces a step change in the development of its US operation,with the signing of a five year marketing agreement with FirstEnergy Corp. tomarket home emergency policies to 3.4m electricity households in its Ohio andPennsylvania service areas. Homeserve's US business, based in Miami, Florida, currently has 153,000 policiesand the signing of the marketing agreement with FirstEnergy significantlyincreases the number of US households to which Homeserve can market from 1.4m to4.8m. By way of comparison Homeserve's UK policy business, Homeserve GB,currently has access to a market of 21.9m households. FirstEnergy is a diversified energy services company based in Akron, Ohio. Itsseven electric utility operating companies comprise the USA's fifth largestinvestor-owned electricity system, based on 3.4m households in Ohio andPennsylvania and a further 1.1m in New Jersey. Its subsidiaries and affiliatesare involved in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, aswell as energy management and other energy-related services. As part of the transaction, Homeserve has acquired 20,000 existing electricalwiring, gas supply pipe, water line and sewer line policies from FirstEnergy,together with a network of service contractors from Allied Utility Network Inc,which currently services FirstEnergy's policies. The transaction is expected to be marginally earnings dilutive in the currentfinancial year but to be earnings-enhancing from 2007/8, albeit not material tooverall Group earnings. The value of the gross assets acquired as a result ofthis transaction is US$nil. Richard Harpin, Chief Executive, commented; "This deal is great news for our development in the US, capturing over 3mhouseholds with a major power utility. It proves our stated strategy to targetelectricity and gas companies in the US as well as water utilities." 16 August 2006 Enquiries: Homeserve plc Brian Whitty, Executive Chairman Tel: 01922 427900Richard Harpin, Chief Executive Tulchan Andrew Honnor Tel: 020 7353 4200 Notes to Editors; Homeserve plc is a FTSE-250 listed company and is the UK's leading provider ofinsured repair solutions and emergency services to the home. Homeserve workswith a wide range of major business partners in the utilities, appliancemanufacturing, retail and household insurance sectors to offer a total serviceof warranty marketing, repair and maintenance solutions right across the UK,Europe and worldwide. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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