Merrill Lynch to Acquire Energy Trading Operations
NEW YORK (September 2, 2004) — McDermott Will & Emery client Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc., has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the energy trading business of Entergy-Koch, LP (EKLP), a joint venture formed by Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) and Koch Industries, Inc. This transaction will expand Merrill's product offering to institutional investor and corporate clients.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Upon closing, the acquired energy trading business will operate as the Global Commodities group, a wholly owned unit within Global Markets & Investment Banking and current Entergy-Koch trading management will continue to run the integrated business.
A cross-border multidisciplinary team of lawyers from eight of the Firm's offices, including Boston, Chicago, London, New York and Washington, D.C., assisted on this transaction. The transaction team provided advice on corporate/M&A, energy and financial products, tax, intellectual property and information technology, litigation, employee benefits, antitrust and real estate issues.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies with offices in 35 countries and total client assets of approximately $1.5 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world's largest managers of financial assets, with assets under management of $488 billion. For more information on Merrill Lynch, visit www.ml.com.
EKLP is a limited partnership between subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation and Koch Industries, Inc. EKLP transports, delivers, markets and trades power, natural gas and other energy-related commodities, through wholly-owned subsidiaries, Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP, Entergy-Koch Trading, LP and Entergy-Koch Trading, Ltd. (Europe). For more information visit www.eklp.com.
