IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/28/08 -- NWP Services Corporation (NWP) today announced the acquisition of ViaStar Energy, Inc., an Indianapolis-based provider of utility billing and meter installation and maintenance services to multifamily communities, manufactured housing communities, condominiums, and retail properties.

ViaStar will add a strong presence for NWP in the Midwest. ViaStar's management, including customer liaisons and technical support, will continue to serve the ViaStar clients.

"With its best-in-class billing system and ability to effectively implement significant new volumes of properties in a very short window of time we knew that NWP was just the right company to service our customers into the future at the high level of service that they have come to expect as well as offering customers the ability to utilize expanded services such as electronic payment and utility bill payment," said Christopher Day, co-CEO of ViaStar Energy.

"We are pleased to have entered into this agreement with NWP, who we believe is the leading billing provider to the multifamily industry," stated Todd Ryden, co-CEO of ViaStar Energy. "We believe that ViaStar customers will be able to even further strengthen their bottom line given the quality and breadth of services offered by NWP."

"The opportunity to leverage the strength of ViaStar's leadership position in the Indianapolis market and throughout the Midwest makes this an attractive proposition for NWP," stated Michael D. Radice, CEO and president of NWP. "Our advanced billing technologies and business process methods will enable us to rapidly transfer ViaStar customers to the NWP billing system, helping to ensure that the company's properties and residents experience a seamless transition and are able to quickly benefit from our enhanced services and website functionality currently available to all NWP customers."

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About NWP Services Corporation:

Headquartered in Irvine, California, NWP Services Corporation (NWP) serves the multifamily housing industry as its leading financial transaction processing provider. NWP is known for its industry expertise delivering proven results and exceptional quality in resident billing, resident payment processing and utility management.

Resident billing by NWP helps property owners offset their utility expenses. The company's utility cost recovery team allocates utility charges to residents and prints and sends the bill; NWP's billing options now include convergent- or "rent-inclusive"-billing through its Resident OneBill service. Complementing its billing services, the company's electronic resident payment processing service, called Resident ePay, enables residents to pay their rent, utilities and other monthly charges online or at the rental office with funds transferred to the property's bank account electronically. Resident ePay gives residents convenience and choice and enables owners to access cash faster. In addition, with its UtilityPay Manager program, NWP processes and pays invoices sent to customers' properties by utility companies. UtilityPay Manager helps customers reduce time spent on administrative bill payment work and provides them with valuable utility data and additional cost management opportunities, including recovering expenses from residents when they fail to transfer utilities into their own name.

NWP's offerings are available as individual services or as a fully integrated solution and are designed to accelerate the financial performance of our customers, allowing them to recover and reduce operating costs, create operational efficiencies, improve NOI and FFO and boost resident satisfaction. Additional information is available at www.nwpsc.com.