Williams (NYSE:WMB) commented on the announcement by Southern Union Co. (NYSE:SUG) that the Special Committee of its Board of Directors has authorized Southern Union to engage in discussions with Williams regarding Williams' $44.00 per share all-cash proposal to acquire all the outstanding shares of Southern Union. The Special Committee of Southern Union made the determination to engage in discussions and to provide information to Williams pursuant to Section 5.4 of Southern Union’s merger agreement with Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE).Alan Armstrong, Williams' President and CEO said, "We are confident that our all-cash, premium proposal is in the best interests of both companies' shareholders, and we are pleased that Southern Union will engage in discussions with Williams. We look forward to working together with Southern Union and to quickly executing a definitive merger agreement."Williams has a potential upside of 23.7% based on a current price of $29.74 and an average consensus analyst price target of $36.8.