COASTAL <CGP> HIT WITH TWO BILLION DLR LAWSUIT
TransAmerica Natural Gas Corp said it
is seeking two billion dlrs in punitive and actual damages in a
lawsuit it filed today against Coastal Corp, its chairman and
certain Coastal affiliates.
    TransAmerica, a privately held company that has been in
bankruptcy since 1983, said its suit alleges that Coastal and
its chairman, Oscar S. Wyatt Jr, unlawfully interfered with
agreements it previously reached with its creditors, causing
the company significant damage.
    TransAmerica also said its suit, filed in state district
court in Harris County, Texas, seeks injunctions against Wyatt
and Coastal to enjoin them from interfering with its
contractual agreements with its creditors.
    The company alleged that beginning in mid-1986, Coastal and
its chairman took various steps to acquire its gas and other
assets.
    Coastal has used TransAmerica's bankruptcy proceedings to
engineer a hostile takeover attempt, the company charged.
    In its suit TransAmerican alleged that Coastal and Wyatt
are "notorious corporate raiders who have been restrained in
the past from taking over other corporations in their attempt
to create a stranglehold position from which they could control
and raise gas prices..."
    "It is obvious that Coastal's efforts to improperly take
over TransAmerican is a thinly veiled attempt to control a
larger share of the Texas gas market to the detriment of end
users and consumers," the company alleged.
    Coastal could not be reached for comment. Company name is
Transamerican.
 Reuter
