© 2016 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(July 11) – A team of Jones Day and Bracewell lawyers, predominately in Houston, said Monday that they led The Southern Company’s $4.15 billion buy-in of a natural gas pipeline venture with Kinder Morgan.
The Atlanta-based electric utility holding company has agreed to acquire a 50 percent interest in the Southern Natural Gas (SNG) pipeline system, which is 7,600 miles long and connects natural gas supply basins in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Gulf of Mexico to markets in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Houston partner Jeff Schlegel and associate David Stringer led the Jones Day deal team that represented Southern. The team also included Dallas and Houston partners Greg Gordon, Michelle Brown, Todd Wallace, Louis Jenull, Joe Beauchamp and Scott Cowan and associates Alex Wilde, Kit Rockhill, Kyle Kreshover, Amanda Suzuki, Jonathan Fisher, Tyler Clarke, Chris Fox, Audra May, Katie Oldham and Melissa Pick.
Attorneys from the firm’s Atlanta, Chicago and Pittsburgh offices also worked on the deal.
Southern also received legal advice from non-Texas lawyers at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Troutman Sanders and Balch & Bingham.
Kinder Morgan General Counsel David DeVeau turned to attorneys at Bracewell to lead the deal for the Houston-based energy giant. Houston partner Jason Jean led the Bracewell team, which also included partners Cle Dade, Greg Bopp Troy Harder, Robert Jacobson, Aaron Woffwarg and Timothy Wilkins, as well as associates Aaron Carpenter, Mona Cannon, Yaniv Maman and Kit Schroeder. All attorneys are based in Houston or Austin.
Attorneys from the firm’s Washington, D.C. and New York offices also worked on the deal.
In-house Kinder Morgan attorneys on the transaction included Deputy GC J. Curtis Moffatt, Assistant GCs R. Eric McCord and Patricia S. Francis, Chief Tax Officer Jordan H. Mintz and Vice President of Tax Jeffrey A. Utay.
Weil attorneys based outside of Texas also advised Kinder Morgan on the deal.
The transaction, which includes existing SNG debt, is expected to close in the third quarter or early fourth quarter of this year.
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