Azurix

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Azurix logo

Azurix Corp. was a division of Enron Corporation headed by Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche which was formed by purchasing Wessex Water in 1998. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States, it was part-floated on the NYSE stock exchange in June 1999, with Enron retaining 35% ownership. The company owned and operated facilities in North America (mainly Canada), Europe, and South America.

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.

[edit] Azurix in Argentina

It is known in particular for operating in Argentina, where in June 1999 it bid $438m - much higher than any competitor - 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). On one occasion, algae infected the water supply and produced a brownish color and foul odor. This cost Azurix fifty days of non-billing and thirty days of supplying bottled water to customers. 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; as of 2005, the ICSID case is ongoing.

Azurix was also part of a consortium (with SAUR) that won a concession in Mendoza in June 1998.

[edit] Other business

As well taking half shares in several joint ventures in Mexico, Azurix won a BOT contract in Accra, Ghana, in April 2000. The company denied press allegations that a $5m bribe was involved, although the World Bank subsequently cancelled the project, saying Azurix had not been chosen in a transparent manner.

Azurix created Waterdesk.com, an online eBusiness website that provides transactions online for the water industry in Europe. Azurix also created Water2Water.com for Latin American businesses to do business with Azurix online.