El Paso shares jump more than 25% on buyout ( EP ) (by Greg Morcroft)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of El Paso Corp. (ep) jumped more than 25% in preopen trading on Monday, a day after Kinder Morgan Inc. (kim) said it would buy its fellow natural gas pipeline operator in a deal valued at $38 billion, including $17 billion of debt. The deal values El Paso at $26.87 a share, or a 47% premium to El Paso's 20 day average closing price, and 37% above Friday's close. The deal will create the largest natural gas pipeline system in the U.S.