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Non-Tech : Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tulsainvest001 who wrote (210)	7/24/2000 7:22:33 PM
From: samoyed	Respond to of 271

UPDATE 1-Williams to split into two companies July 24, 2000 05:04 PM (Adds analyst comments starting with eighth paragraph and details. Updates stock price.) TULSA, Okla., July 24 (Reuters) - Williams Cos. Inc. WMB on Monday said its board approved a plan to split into two companies -- one for its energy division and the other for its communications businesses. "While the specific course of action has not been determined, it is envisioned the process would take no more than 18 months," Chief Executive Officer Keith Bailey said. He said any change from the current ownership structure would be contingent upon a number of factors, including ensuring favourable tax treatment for Williams' shareholders. "We believe these steps are the best way to ensure that both our energy and communications businesses have the efficient and effective access to the capital necessary to pursue the substantial growth opportunities that each enjoys," Bailey explained. Williams was the big gainer among the 40 components of the Standard & Poor's Utility Index -- and one of only 11 issues closing higher -- adding 13/16 to close at 42-11/16. Last October, the company sold a portion of Williams Communications WCG in public and private equity offerings. Williams retains ownership of about 85 percent of Williams Communications. Its shares closed off 7/8 at 28-1/2 Monday. Commenting on the board's weekend authorisation, PaineWebber analyst Ron Barone said, "We had repeatedly discussed the increased odds for such a separation in recent months, after detecting a change in management's position on the subject during recent conference calls and discussions." Although no announcements have been made yet, Barone said, "we would also not rule out the sale of non-core Energy assets to further improve the profitability of (Williams') Energy operations. The analyst continues to suggest an ongoing active accumulation stance on Williams shares, reflecting the ongoing turn-around in the company's energy operations, the strategic position of Williams Communications, and the substantial valuation-upside presented by the separation of these two business. Given Monday's announcement, "our current 12-month $55 per share (Williams) price target ... appears conservative. We will consider raising this target after second quarter results are released and more details on a separation strategy are provided," Barone concluded.

To: tulsainvest001 who wrote (210)	8/4/2000 8:57:31 AM
From: samoyed	Respond to of 271

Williams suddenly a major player in Canadian energy August 3, 2000 02:06 PM By Jeffrey Jones CALGARY, Aug 3 (Reuters) - With two big deals on Thursday, U.S. energy and communications company Williams Cos. Inc. WMB has amassed a dominant position in Canada's natural gas liquids industry almost from a standing start. Williams, a top player in gas pipelines, energy marketing and fiber-optic communications, said on Thursday it would buy most of TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.'s CA:TRP TRP western Canadian gas liquids extraction and gathering operations as well as Dow Chemical Co.'s DOW stake in a major pipeline to markets. Financial terms were not disclosed, although Williams, which has a stock-market value of more than $19 billion, pegged the value in the "hundreds of millions of dollars." "Previously, we just kind of dipped our toes into the Canadian energy market. But with the purchases today we're certainly diving right in there," spokesman Kelly Swan said. Through the acquisitions, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams will become the second-largest player in Canada's gas liquids production, processing and transportation segment after longtime top gun BP Amoco Plc , Swan said. Also, the deals will boost its coverage to nearly all of the continent with operations in Canada, the Gulf Coast, Texas, the Midwest and other regions, making Williams the No. 2 liquids firm in North America after Duke Energy Corp. DUK . Gas liquids, or NGLs, represents a major, though often overlooked, segment of the energy business. Raw liquids are produced with natural gas in many fields, and are extracted and processed into fuels such as propane and butane as well as petrochemical feedstock like ethane. The gathering and processing part of the business is referred to as "midstream." Another recent U.S. entrant is Conoco Inc. COC.A , which bought Petro-Canada's CA:PCA gas liquids business in March. Williams said it would buy a host of gas liquids extraction and processing plants in Alberta and British Columbia from TransCanada, which is on a drive to sell C$3-billion ($2 billion) of assets to concentrate on main businesses. The facilities include 6 billion cubic feet of gas a day of processing capacity, 225,000 barrels a day of gas liquids processing capacity, 2,000 miles of pipeline and more than 5 million barrels of storage capacity. It is also buying Dow's 32.5-percent stake in the Cochin pipeline, which carries liquids to markets in the U.S. Midwest and the petrochemical hub of Sarnia, Ontario, from Empress on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. BP Amoco is the largest owner of the key liquids artery. Previously, Williams' main asset in Canada was its stake in the soon-to-be-completed Alliance pipeline to Chicago from northeastern B.C. The C$4.5-billion line will ship gas liquids along with the gas to be extracted at a plant in Chicago. "They've now got control, if you may, of Alberta's NGL business and the Chicago NGL business, which is starting in a couple months. They'll be able to arbitrage to the maximum extent possible with their Texas NGL business," said Sam Kanes, analyst with Scotia Capital Markets in Toronto. Swan said gas producers in western Canada would benefit from Williams' sudden entry into the business because they will gain access to numerous new markets for their liquids. "We have an NGL network that ties into Cochin in two places, one in Minnesota and one in Iowa. So when you combine those assets with our other NGL assets, we now will have a network that essentially stretches from the Mont Belvieu area of Texas all the way up to western Canada," he said.