COASTAL &lt;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.
  

