New York-based face=+Bold; Omega Advisors Inc. face=-Bold; has purchased the 5.06 million units of face=+Bold; Linn Energy LLCface=-Bold; , Houston, (Nasdaq: LINE) held by private-equity investor face=+Bold; Quantum Energy Partners II LPface=-Bold; , Houston. The holding represented a 4.5% stake in the upstream MLP.

The units were worth $200 million on the open market in July. When sold Dec. 12 to Omega, they were worth approximately $118 million. Upstream MLPs' unit prices have been hit in second-half 2007 by credit-market affects on potential unit-buyers' investment profiles.

Quantum was the initial private-equity investor in Linn Energy when formed in March 2003. The oil and gas ...