Azurix
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| Public company | |
| Traded as | : AZX |
| Industry | Water services |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas |
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Key people
|
Rebecca P. Mark |
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Number of employees
|
165 |
| Parent | Enron (former parent) |
| Website | www |
Azurix Corp. (: AZX) is a water services company, headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company owned and operated facilities in North America (mainly Canada), Europe, and South America. In 2007, Azurix was awarded a $165 million claim against the government of Argentina by an international arbitral tribunal; the company is currently involved in a dispute over Argentina's refusal to pay the claim.
Azurix was formed when Enron Corporation purchased British company Wessex Water in 1998. In June 1999, it was part-floated on the NYSE stock exchange, with Enron retaining 34% ownership. The company was formed with an IPO of $800 million and an opening stock price of $22.00, which fell to $2.00 within two years. The business was a disaster for Enron, and in April 2001 Enron announced it would break up Azurix and sell its assets. Enron eventually sold Azurix North America and Azurix Industrial Operations to American Water Works for $141.5 million.
The company was run by Rebecca P. Mark until her resignation in 2000; upon her resignation, John L. Garrison became Chairman and CEO.
Azurix is known in particular for operating in Argentina, where in June 1999 it bid $438m to win a 30-year concession covering two of the three regions of the Buenos Aires Province (excluding the Buenos Aires city concession, which is run by Suez). In October 2001, Azurix announced it would withdraw from the contract as of January 2002, accusing the regional government of "serious breaches", and later filed a compensation claim with the ICSID ("Azurix Corp. v. Argentine Republic (Case No. ARB/01/12)"). The concession was terminated in March 2002; in 2007 the ICSID awarded Azurix $156m in compensation (substantially less than the $620m Azurix originally invested and subsequently claimed in damages). On September 2009, the ICSID Ad Hoc Annulment Committee affirmed the award, rendering the arbitration final.
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Wikipedia