EPD Enterprise Products Partners LP

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)

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