Texas Eastern Corp

Texas Eastern Corp.'s oil and gas production and exploration units will be sold for about $1.4 billion to a British concern to help finance a friendly takeover by Panhandle Eastern Corp., Panhandle announced Wednesday. The agreement with Enterprise Oil PLC was reached just days after the two Houston natural gas companies signed a $3.2-billion merger agreement.

Coastal Corp. said Monday that it planned to launch a $2.6-billion tender offer for Texas Eastern Corp. in a deal that would make Coastal the nation's largest natural gas company. The $42-per-share offer was about 40% more than Texas Eastern's closing stock price on Friday. The announcement sent Texas Eastern stock soaring by $14.75 a share to $45 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange, which analysts said indicated the bidding may go higher.

The ETSI Pipeline Project, a consortium led by Texas Eastern Corp., said Friday that a court had awarded it more than $1 billion in a lawsuit it brought against Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corp. charging that the railroad tried to stop a $3-billion coal slurry pipeline. The ETSI consortium, which includes the Bechtel Group, Enron Corp. and KN Energy Inc.

The Houston-based oil and gas firm said the change, which reduced its retained earnings at the end of 1985 by $139 million but increased its first-quarter results, resulted from a change in its accounting method. Texas Eastern also said it might have to cut its 55-cents-per-share quarterly dividend because of the collapse in oil prices. Earnings for the first quarter of 1986 were restated to $37 million from the $6 million reported earlier.

Texas Eastern Corp.'s board of directors unanimously rejected Sunday a $2.6-billion cash offer from Coastal Corp., calling it "clearly inadequate." Coastal announced Jan. 16 that it was making a cash tender offer of $42 a share for all of Texas Eastern's outstanding common shares. Since then, Texas Eastern's stock has soared, closing Friday at $48 a share. The tender offer is set to expire on Feb. 14.

The ETSI Pipeline Project, a consortium led by Texas Eastern Corp., said Friday that a court had awarded it more than $1 billion in a lawsuit it brought against Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corp. charging that the railroad tried to stop a $3-billion coal slurry pipeline. The ETSI consortium, which includes the Bechtel Group, Enron Corp. and KN Energy Inc.

Houston-based Texas Eastern Corp. named Frank Mapel executive vice president-marketing sales and development in its Petrolane subsidiary. He is based in Long Beach.

Texas Eastern Corp.'s oil and gas production and exploration units will be sold for about $1.4 billion to a British concern to help finance a friendly takeover by Panhandle Eastern Corp., Panhandle announced Wednesday. The agreement with Enterprise Oil PLC was reached just days after the two Houston natural gas companies signed a $3.2-billion merger agreement.

Texas Eastern Corp.'s board of directors unanimously rejected Sunday a $2.6-billion cash offer from Coastal Corp., calling it "clearly inadequate." Coastal announced Jan. 16 that it was making a cash tender offer of $42 a share for all of Texas Eastern's outstanding common shares. Since then, Texas Eastern's stock has soared, closing Friday at $48 a share. The tender offer is set to expire on Feb. 14.

Coastal Corp. said Monday that it planned to launch a $2.6-billion tender offer for Texas Eastern Corp. in a deal that would make Coastal the nation's largest natural gas company. The $42-per-share offer was about 40% more than Texas Eastern's closing stock price on Friday. The announcement sent Texas Eastern stock soaring by $14.75 a share to $45 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange, which analysts said indicated the bidding may go higher.

The Houston-based oil and gas firm said the change, which reduced its retained earnings at the end of 1985 by $139 million but increased its first-quarter results, resulted from a change in its accounting method. Texas Eastern also said it might have to cut its 55-cents-per-share quarterly dividend because of the collapse in oil prices. Earnings for the first quarter of 1986 were restated to $37 million from the $6 million reported earlier.

National Gypsum Co., a Dallas-based maker of construction materials, appointed J. Michal Conaway to the newly created position of vice president and chief financial officer. Conaway previously served as financial officer at Texas Eastern Corp. in Houston.