Williams Cos. Says Judge Erred in Scrapping Energy Transfer Deal

Williams Cos. said Jan. 11 that a judge blundered in allowing rival pipeline operator Energy Transfer Equity LP to scuttle a $33 billion merger over a tax issue that it argues could have been fixed (Williams Cos. v. Energy Transfer Equity LP, Del., 330, 2016, oral argument 1/11/17).

Dallas-based Energy Transfer violated the 2015 agreement to buy Williams for more than $43 per share by failing to “try at all” to address a tax flaw that sank the deal, Sandra Goldstein, a lawyer for the Tulsa, Okla.-based pipeline company told the Delaware Supreme Court.

Energy Transfer wasn’t ...