Enterprise Products Withdraws Its Interest in Williams -- 4th Update
September 08 2016 - 7:46PM
Dow Jones News
By Josh Beckerman and Alison Sider
Enterprise Products Partners LP is no longer pursuing a deal to
merge with pipeline rival Williams Cos., Enterprise said
Thursday.
The company confirmed it had approached Williams regarding a
possible combination, but said it is withdrawing the offer.
"As a result of rumors with respect to our proposals, as well as
the lack of engagement by Williams, we have determined that there
is no actionable path forward toward an agreement," Enterprise
said.
Williams disputed that it refused to engage and said in a
statement that it has had a series of exchanges with Enterprise
about a possible deal since July. It said its board was actively
reviewing Enterprise's most recent proposal.
"As such, Williams is surprised by today's announcement from
Enterprise, " the company said in a statement.
A person familiar with the matter said Enterprise's revised
proposal came less than two weeks ago, shortly before Williams
appointed three new board members.
Last month Reuters reported that Enterprise approached Williams
about a potential acquisition at some point after a deal between
Williams and Energy Transfer Equity L.P. fell through in June. That
terminated deal initially was valued at $33 billion.
Williams's board went through a shake-up after its agreement
with Energy Transfer collapsed; six board members resigned after
failing to unseat Alan Armstrong, chief executive of Williams.
In August Williams said it would appoint three new independent
directors to add to the seven directors that remained on its board.
At the same time, activist investor Keith Meister of Corvex
Management LP announced he wanted to replace the entire board.
Since then Williams has taken steps intended to strengthen its
financial position, including cutting the dividend and considering
the sale of a petrochemical plant owned by its affiliate, Williams
Partners LP.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com and Alison
Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 08, 2016 19:31 ET (23:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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