Homeserve signs up two new US partners

9th Mar 2011 07:22

Home emergency repairs outfit Homeserve has expanded its reach in the USA with two new utility agreements.Homeserve USA has acquired 135,000 home assistance policies of South Jersey Energy Services Plus as they become due for renewal, while it has also signed a long-term agreement with Millennium Energy Holdings for the marketing of home emergency policies to 580,000 domestic customers of Millennium's utility affiliates.As a result of these agreements and its own organic growth, Homeserve USA now has access to more than 21m affinity partner households.The US division remains on track to deliver an operating profit of £6m in the year to 31 March 2011, up from £1.5m the year before, Homeserve said.There will be no impact on earnings for the current financial year or 2012 as a result of the new agreements, as the business will invest in additional marketing to capitalise on these two new agreements. HomeServe will finance the South Jersey Energy Services Plus (SJESP) acquisition using its existing banking facilities, with an initial payment to SJESP of $3.0m in the current financial year, and a further $6m in future performance based payments."These agreements with Millennium Energy and South Jersey Energy Services Plus take the total number of partners we are working with in the US to 17, who between them have over 21m households," said Jonathan King, chief executive of Homeserve USA."Signing up more affinity partners and acquiring more policy books in the US remains a key goal for us in the future and we continue to be excited by the pipeline of opportunities," King added.