Tulsa-based Williams buys all shares of unit in $10.5B deal

(Information from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com)
TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A Tulsa-based natural gas company has agreed to acquire all public equity of its subsidiary.
The Tulsa World reports that Williams Companies will purchase all of the outstanding public common units of Williams Partners as part of an agreement announced Thursday. The stock-for-unit transaction is valued at $10.5 billion.
The announcement follows a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decision earlier this year to revise a tax policy permitting master limited partnership interstate oil and natural gas pipelines to maintain an income tax allowance in cost-of-service rates.
Williams Companies CEO Alan Armstrong says the deal will maintain the income tax allowance and simplify the company’s corporate structure.
Williams Companies owns nearly 75 percent of Williams Partners, which owns and operates more than 33,000 miles of pipelines, including the Transco pipeline.