American Water to issue 26M shares

American Water Works Company Inc. said yesterday that it would be offering 26 million shares of its common stock.

The Voorhees-based company plans to use the proceeds from the sale to reduce its short-term debt.

American Water will sell 14.5 million shares, and a subsidiary of the parent company, utility RWE AG, will sell 11.5 million shares.

After the offering, the subsidiary stockholder is expected to own about 49 percent of American Water's shares.

American Water shares were trading this morning at $16.84, up 4 cents (0.24 percent), on the New York Stock Exchange.