OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — 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 the companies involved should have known that the deal was unlikely to get approved because the agency opposed a similar combination involving Dominion’s Questar pipeline and Berkshire’s Kern River pipeline.
Officials with the utility division of Warren Buffett’s company did not immediately respond to questions about the deal on Tuesday.
Dominion officials declined to comment.