While Williams claimed it was providing an 18% premium over the original bidding price, Energy Transfer returned the punch, highlighting the advantages of its MLP (master limited partnership) structure. (Read Energy Transfer Buys Southern Union: The Beauty Of Nat Gas MLPs).
In our view, a leveraged recapitalization makes no sense and its only purpose would be to put substantial equity stakes into friendly hands to entrench management and transfer effective control without payment of a premium or even, it appears, a shareholder vote.