US regulators criticize Buffett's failed $1.3B pipeline deal

Federal regulators say Berkshire Hathaway’s $1.3 billion deal to buy a natural gas pipeline from Dominion Energy that fell apart this week should have never been attempted because a similar deal drew strong opposition in the past

OMAHA, Neb. -- Federal regulators say Berkshire Hathaway's $1.3 billion deal to buy a natural gas pipeline from Dominion Energy that fell apart this week should have never been attempted because a similar deal drew strong opposition in the past. The acting director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, Holly Vedova, said Tuesday that the companies involved should have known that the deal was unlikely to get approved because the agency previously opposed a similar combination involving Dominion’s Questar pipeline and Berkshire’s Kern River pipeline. “It is disappointing that the FTC had to expend significant resources to review this transaction when we previously filed suit in 1995 to block the same combination,” Vedova said. “Given our prior action, and the even closer competition that developed between the pipelines since then, this is representative of the type of transaction that should not make it out of the boardroom.” Vedova noted the Kern River and Questar pipelines are the only two pipelines that bring natural gas from where it is produced in the Rocky Mountains to central Utah, so allowing the two to combine would undermine the competition that benefits consumers.