March 7, 2016 (Shareholders Foundation) - An investor in shares of Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by Williams Partners L.P. in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between May 13, 2015 and June 19, 2015. Williams Partners L.P. is a limited partnership providing infrastructure for North American natural gas and natural gas products. Williams Partners L.P. is controlled by Williams Companies, Inc. (“Williams Companies”) through its general partner Williams Partners GP. All of Williams Companies’ senior officers are also senior officers of Williams Partners GP and the two entities also share six common directors.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ) common shares between May 13, 2015 and June 19, 2015, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws.

More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between May 13, 2015 and June 19, 2015 Williams Partners made materially false and misleading statements to investors and/or failed to disclose that Williams Companies was considering alternate strategic transactions, specifically ETE’s proposal to acquire the Williams Companies, that could prevent Williams Companies from completing the Williams Partners and Williams Companies merger; and as a result, the Company's common shares traded at an artificially inflated level between May 13, 2015 and June 19, 2015.

On May 13, 2015, Williams Partners and Williams Companies announced that Williams Companies would acquire all publicly held common shares of Williams Partners. On the news of the proposed merger, Williams Partners shares rose more than 22%. However, the investing public was unaware that Williams Companies' management was also in discussions with Energy Transfer Equity L.P. (“ETE”) regarding a proposal by the firm to acquire Williams Companies. This arrangement would require Williams Companies to terminate its merger with Williams Partners.

On June 22, 2015, ETE announced the specifics of its discussions with Williams Companies, including the merger-termination requirement.

Shares of Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ) declined from $58.70 per share in May 2015 to as low as $17.12 per share in February 2016.