Williams director felt threatened to back ETE deal -trial

Simply by Tom Hals
GEORGETOWN, Del., June 20 (Reuters) - A Williams Cos Incorporation board member testified she felt pressured by her own company to support a $20 billion merger along with pipeline company Energy Move Equity LP, which ETE lawyers sought to illustrate as proof that Williams misrepresented its board's support for that deal.
The two companies are suing every other as Energy Move Equity, or ETE, looks for a way to back again out of the offer, which would create a single of the world's largest operators of pipeline in order to carry oil and fuel.
The two-day trial in Delaware's Court of Chancery before Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock opened on Monday.
Williams is asking the judge to force ETE to complete the takeover, alleging that the organization streaming jilbab Bokep and its chief executive, Dallas billionaire Kelcy Warren, have purposely worked in order to scuttle the agreed-upon offer.
ETE has countersued, arguing that Williams has breached the merger agreement, within part by misrepresenting the level of its board's support for the deal.
On Monday, ETE lawyers played video deposition account of director Kathleen Cooper which they said highlighted that Williams board users were threatened with all the risk of a campaign to have them removed if they will did not support the deal.
Cooper voted against the particular deal. She was amongst the five directors upon Williams' 13-member board who did not back the particular takeover.
Asked during her deposition earlier this 30 days if she had felt threatened to change the girl vote, she said the girl did.
Williams' chairman, Frank MacInnis, downplayed Cooper's testimony and said the table discussed the possible fall-out from a vote towards the deal.
"There was never a threat, " MacInnis told the courtroom.



BUYER'S REMORSE
The two-day trial arrives just days before a scheduled June 27 vote by Williams shareholders upon whether they want in order to accept the offer proposed in September by ETE.
While the deal was long-sought by Warren, Williams mentioned he soon came down with buyer's remorse and began to search with regard to a solution as a good energy price slump deepened.
ETE has made clear that it believes the deal has ceased to be attractive. This has slashed estimates for expected cost savings and said it would probably have to cut distributions in order to shareholders entirely next year if it has to complete the deal.
ETE has argued the deal are not able to close because its attorneys at Latham & Watkins were unable to declare that it will be tax-free. The particular company originally raised the tax problem in 04 and rejected two feasible solutions proposed by Williams.
Williams sued in May, accusing Warren of failing to meet its obligation to try to get the merger done simply by June 28, when ETE can walk away without having penalty.
Williams' legal group on Monday showed the video deposition of Jamie Welch, who was fired previously this year as ETE's chief financial officer.
This individual said that as early as January, Warren experienced grown opposed to the deal. He began pressing their management team and attorneys to understand ETE's rights with respect to terminating the deal.
"He feared for the future of the Energy Move enterprise if the deal with Williams needed to close up on its current conditions, " Welch said within the video played in court. He said Warren feared an "implosion" of the business. (Additional reporting simply by Michael Erman in Ny; Editing by Matthew Lewis)