Kinder Morgan’s Settlement of Buyout Suits Approved

Kinder Morgan Inc., the Houston-based pipeline company taken private in a $22 billion leveraged buyout, won approval of a $200 million settlement of investor lawsuits over the deal.

A state court judge in Topeka, Kansas, concluded today the agreement resolving shareholders’ complaints about the 2007 buyout was a reasonable resolution of the securities-fraud cases. Investors alleged they were being shortchanged in the offer by a group led by co-founder Richard Kinder to take the company private.