Private Equity Fund Acquisition

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently granted antitrust clearance, with conditions, for the $22 billion takeover of energy transportation and storage provider Kinder Morgan, Inc., (“KMI”) by a management-led investment group that includes private equity firms The Carlyle Group and Riverstone Holdings LLC. Approval of the deal and settlement of the formal FTC challenge requires Carlyle and Riverstone to convert interests in a rival company, Magellan Midstream, to a passive role. The FTC formally alleged that the transaction violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act because investment funds controlled by Carlyle and Riverstone would hold interests in both KMI and Magellan Midstream, a competitor of KMI that also transports gas and other petroleum products.