A judge blocked Midcon from buying a gas utility.

WB Partners, which is attempting a hostile takeover of Midco, a Chicago-area gas pipeline company, said it obtained a temporary restraining order that blocks Midcon from complicating the deal by acquiring Monarch Gas of St. Elmo, Ill. WB Partners, formed by Wagner & Brown and Freeport-McMoRan Inc., is offering $2.7 billion, or $62.50 a share, in cash to buy Midcon.