TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Shareholders of Williams Cos. have voted in favor of the Tulsa-based pipeline company completing a proposed merger with Dallas-based Energy Transfer Equity.
Williams Cos. said Monday that more than 80 percent of votes cast were in favor of finalizing the proposed merger with the Texas pipeline company, The Tulsa World reports.
The merger was announced in September, but became less attractive when oil prices plummeted.
Last week, a judge ruled in favor of Energy Transfer by denying Williams’ request to stop the company from canceling the merger because of lack of a needed tax opinion, confirming the transaction would be tax-free for Williams shareholders.
Williams has said Energy Transfer was using the tax opinion as a ruse to miss a deadline and was deliberately trying to scrap the agreement. The judge said that even though it would be in the best interest of the Texas company for the agreement to go away, it did not prove that Energy’s leadership failed to do everything in its power to obtain the tax opinion from attorneys.
The company said Monday that it has filed documents to appeal the ruling, and that it believes Energy does not have the right to terminate the deal.
“Williams remains ready, willing and able to close the merger under the Merger Agreement entered into with ETE on September 28, 2015,” the company said in a statement. “If ETE terminates the Merger Agreement, Williams will take appropriate actions to enforce its rights under the Merger Agreement and deliver benefits to Williams’ stockholders.”