Kansas City merger called off with ONEOK shareholder

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2000 | 11:37 a.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Power & Light Co. called off its $2.5 billion merger with Kansas-based Western Resources Inc. -- the largest utility in Kansas and the largest shareholder in the company trying to buy Southwest Gas Corp. of Las Vegas.

Kansas City Power cited Western's plunging share price as its reason for calling off the merger, which has been pending for nearly four years. Western's shares fell 49 percent in 1999, hurt in part by a decline in the stock of ONEOK Inc. of Tulsa, Okla. Delays in the Kansas City Power acquisition and declines in other Western investments also hurt the company's share price.

Western owns about 45 percent of ONEOK, which is currently trying to acquire Southwest Gas for $1.8 billion.

Kansas City Power serves 450,000 electricity customers in Kansas and Missouri. Under its agreement with Western, both parties had the right to cancel the merger if it wasn't completed by Jan. 1.

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