Kravis: Texas gas’em

Is Henry Kravis the next Brian Hunter? Certainly it’s unfair to compare the seasoned buyout baron with the youthful commodities trader whose huge bets on energy markets brought down hedge fund Amaranth last year. But the wager Kravis’ private equity firm is taking with partner Texas Pacific Group in its $45bn takeover of Texas utility TXU isn’t all that different. It’s a play on natural gas prices rising. Dallas-based TXU has three basic businesses. One manages the infrastructure that brings el...