Success Stories

WestWater’s proven experience and outstanding project performance shows we can integrate resources to deliver innovative solutions. Over the last ten years WestWater has successfully completed over 150 unique projects across the United States and internationally.

Water Marketing

WWR developed and arranged a unique price-floor bid auction process with a minimum-bid price. WWR negotiated a $53-million minimum-bid price ( $19,500 per acre-foot) agreement with a private water resource investment and management company. The auction attracted considerable interest among national investment buyers, and private equity funds because of the unique financial structure and was able to generate a competitive offer above the minimum-bid price floor. The winning bid was $24,650/AF with a total purchase price of $67 million.

The auction format provided financial security for the town, an equitable sales process open to the public, a method to derive a market value from the asset, and the ability to reallocate resources to the highest-valued use. Project tasks involved development of due diligence materials in support of the auction, advertising the auction to local, regional, and national interests, and development of a price floor agreement. The transaction received a 2008 Global Water Award runner up “Water Deal of the Year.”

In early 2008 WWR was engaged to market and sell one of the largest blocks of non-tributary ground water in Colorado. Located 25 miles south of Denver in the heart of Colorado’s rapidly growing Front Range, the water right, underlying 7,460 acres of the Greenland Ranch, was decreed by the Colorado Water Court in 1995 for 1.456 million acre-feet of non-tributary groundwater from the Denver Basin. Due to the large size of the water right and the fragmented demand in the region, a single end-user was not capable of absorbing the entire quantity. WWR was brought in to develop an exit strategy for the asset and market the water to investment buyers.

To determine the appropriate sales price, WWR provided an in-depth market analysis of the region’s water markets and an asset valuation and pricing analysis. The analysis included an assessment of the marketability, a review of the water supply portfolio of local water purveyors and municipal water providers, an analysis of the regional water supply and demand forecasts, alternative cost analysis, market absorption rates and price, transaction terms, and other details on recent water right transaction within the region. WWR also created a comprehensive water development plan that detailed infrastructure requirements, test well procedures, contracting terms with end-users, and financial returns. WWR also developed potential end-users through informal discussions with local municipalities, government officials, developers, and other high-end water users in the region.

To market the asset to investment buyers, WWR created due diligence documents including an investment summary, a power point presentation describing the strategic development plans, a financial model with proposed sale and disposition alternatives, a market analysis report, and gathered all associated legal and engineering documents pertaining to the water right. WWR created an on-line data room in which investors were able to review and download all due diligence documents. WWR called upon an extensive array of contacts in the investment industry and managed all discussions and negotiations with potential buyers.