Pipeline giant rejects buyout offer reportedly from Dallas company

Pipeline giant Williams Cos. has turned down a $48 billion buyout offer but hasn’t ruled out a sale, the company said Sunday evening.

Tulsa, Okla.-based Williams said it received an unsolicited, all-stock offer valuing the company at $64 per share. Williams also said it had hired Barclays and Lazard to review its options, including another sale or merger.

The company did not identify the suitor. Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, said it was Dallas-based Energy Transfer.

A spokesman for Williams declined to comment further Sunday and an Energy Transfer representative could not be reached for comment.

The offer “significantly undervalues Williams, and would not deliver value commensurate with what Williams expects to achieve on a standalone basis,” Williams said of the deal.

Acquiring subsidiary

Williams said the offer it received was contingent on the company not completing its pending corporate consolidation.

That consolidation, announced in May, would have parent company Williams acquire asset-holding subsidiary Williams Partners LP in an all-equity deal worth $13.8 billion. Williams said Sunday that deal was moving ahead.

Flurry of deals

The oil and gas transportation industry has seen a flurry of deals in the past months, as the largest energy infrastructure companies seek to maintain high growth amid the oil price-induced drilling slowdown.

Williams, which has operations in Houston, operates a network of natural gas gathering and processing pipes in the U.S. and Canada.

On Friday, shares in Williams Cos. closed at $48.34.