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ACTION ALERT: Stop the OTPP purchase of private water company EsvalSeptember 25, 2007 As recently reported by Canadian Press, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP), "...signed a separate agreement (this August) to purchase up to 100 per cent of Esval S.A., Chile's third largest water and wastewater company. That transaction is expected to close by the end of November." This follows the OTPP's purchase in August of 50.01 percent of the second largest Chilean water utility Essbio and 100 percent of ANSM from Southern Cross Group, a Latin American private equity firm. An OTPP media release on August 10 states, "In its latest offer, Teachers' has agreed to acquire the 48.92% interest in Esval held by Consorcio Financiero and other shareholders for C$384 million (US$365 million). Consorcio is Chile's largest non-financial banking conglomerate and insurance company. Teachers' would also launch a public tender, as required under Chilean securities law, for 100% of Esval's remaining shares. About 29% of these shares are owned by CORFO, a government agency, and most of the remaining interest is held by public shareholders." Ownership of Esval has changed hands since it was privatized. According to the Public Services International Research Unit, "In July 2000, UK-based Anglian Water acquired a controlling interest in Chilean water and wastewater company Esval." As noted in an October 2005 Public Citizen report, "There has been significant political opposition to water privatization in Chile, especially among trade unions and consumer groups. Some political parties also opposed the sale of the regional water companies which were considered, even by the World Bank, to be models of efficiently-run public companies, providing income to the Chilean state." The full report can be read at www.citizen.org. ACTION The OTPP "invests the pension fund’s assets and administers the pensions of Ontario’s 167,000 elementary and secondary school teachers and 104,000 retired teachers." The Council of Canadians encourages these teachers to oppose the investment of their pensions into for-profit water. Those concerned are encouraged to e-mail Claude Lamoureux, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and state that the OTPP should not be investing in private water corporations. Mr. Lamoureux's e-mail address is claude_lamoureux@otpp.com. You may also want to raise the concern that in April 2005 the OTPP purchased a 25 percent interest in Northumbrian Water Group PLC, a publicly traded water and wastewater services company that provides services to 4.3 million people in the United Kingdom, from Suez. (In their book Blue Gold, Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke write, "Between 1989 and 1995, Northumbrian's water rates increased by 110 percent; the CEO's salary increased by 150 percent; and the company's profits increased by 800 percent.") DRAFT MESSAGE
Brent Patterson, Director of Organizing and Campaigns, The Council of Canadians Automated letter submission for this action alert is no longer available
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