The campaign by Magellan Midstream Partners to win unit holder approval for its $19 billion merger with Oneok is going down to the wire with the vote scheduled for Thursday.
The view on Wall Street is that Magellan will put off the vote Thursday if it lacks sufficient support and work to gain approval rather than accept defeat. The company declined to comment. Magellan longtime investors can face tax bills of more than $20 per unit because the company’s ample distributions have been tax advantaged and the deal accelerates deferred taxes. Barron’s has heard from numerous individual investors who are upset about the deal and the resulting tax bill.
There are several problematic issues, however, to gaining approval. Getting retail investors to vote is harder than for institutions. More than 40% of the units could be held by individuals.