The securities litigation law firm of Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, has commenced an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law by the Board of Directors of Williams Partners, L.P. (“Williams” or the “Company”) (NYSE: WPZ) relating to the proposed buyout of the Company by Access Midstream Partners, L.P. (“Access Midstream”).

On October 26, 2014, Williams and Access Midstream announced the signing of a merger agreement pursuant to which Access Midstream will acquire Williams in a transaction valued at approximately $24.5 billion. The transaction is expected to close by early 2015, though Williams shareholders will most likely be asked to vote on the transaction well before that time.

Under the terms of the transaction, Williams will merge with a subsidiary of Access Midstream in a unit-for-unit exchange at a ratio of 0.86672 Access common units per Williams common unit, giving an implied value of $52.72 per unit. This implied value is significantly below the median of analyst price targets of $59.15 and below the company's 52-week high price of $55.87.

The firm’s investigation seeks to determine, among other things, whether Williams’s Board of Directors failed to satisfy their duties to the Company’s shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for the Company’s shares of common stock.

If you currently own common stock of Williams and would like to learn more about the investigation being conducted by Brower Piven, without cost or obligation to you, please visit our website at http://www.browerpiven.com/currentinvestigations.html. You may also request more information by contacting Brower Piven either by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com or by telephone at (410) 415-6616.

Attorneys at Brower Piven have extensive experience in litigating securities and other class action cases and have been advocating for the rights of shareholders since the 1980s.