By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 30 -- Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) senior managers and investors have proposed buying the company and taking it private in a transaction that values the firm at $13.4 billion.
KMI and affiliates own 40,000 miles of gas and oil pipelines and 150 terminals in the US and Canada, serve 1.1 million gas distribution customers, and operate a carbon dioxide transportation and distribution system that supplies enhanced recovery operations in the Permian basin.
Chief Executive Officer Richard Kinder said May 29 that he and other senior managers are interested in acquiring outstanding stock for $100/share. The executives have the backing of an investor group including Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, American International Group Inc., the Carlyle Group, and Riverstone Holdings LLC.
The board formed a special committee of independent directors to consider the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made or that any agreement will be reached, the board said.
Kinder said the proposed acquisition would be in the form of a merger of the company with a new acquisition vehicle to be formed. If the company goes private, he plans to continue as its chairman and chief executive officer.
