American Water Works to Buy Essential in $12 Billion Deal (3)

American Water Works Co. agreed to buy Essential Utilities Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at about $12 billion, the biggest such US deal on record.

The combined company will serve almost five million customers across 17 states, according to a statement Monday.

The deal comes amid growing opportunity for investment in infrastructure needs and environmental remediation as well as increasing demand for water from data centers, company executives said on an investor call Monday morning.

It is the biggest US water utility deal by total value going back to the 1990s and the second biggest globally, according to data ...