Willkie Farr, Skadden Counsel MidAmerican Pipeline Deal
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a Des Moines, Iowa-based subsidiary of Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc., announced recently that it had agreed to purchase an interstate natural gas pipeline from Tulsa, Okla.-based energy company The Williams Companies Inc. for about $960 million in cash and debt assumption. The Kern River pipeline transmits natural gas from reserves in the Rocky Mountains and Western Canada to markets in Utah, Nevada and California. Constructed in 1992, Kern River extends 922 miles from Opal, Wyo., to San Joaquin Valley near Bakersfield, Calif. Kern River has a design capacity of 835 million cubic feet per day. In addition to the purchase of the pipeline, the companies involved completed two separate but related deals. MidAmerican agreed to purchase $275 million of Williams convertible preferred stock, and Berkshire Hathaway invested in $403 million worth of MidAmerican convertible preferred stock and $323 million of MidAmerican trust preferred securities.
