Bidding war for Anadarko now includes allegations of insider trading

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Houston Chronicle by  Sergio Chapa April 29, 2019

A federal judge on Monday added another twist in the battle to acquire Anadarko Petroleum when he froze the assets of two unknown traders accused of using insider information to profit from the recent announcement of Chevron’s proposed $33 billion deal to buy the The Woodlands oil and gas company.

Chevron now faces a bidding war with Occidental Petroleum, which has offered $38 billion for Andadarko. The judge’s ruling came just a few hours after Anadarko said it would resume negotiations with Occidental over what could be a “superior proposal” from the Houston oil and gas company.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Woods of the Southern District of New York handed down his order following a complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision. The SEC alleged that two traders, using brokerage accounts in the United Kingdom and Cyprus, earned more than $2 million bu buying large amounts of Anadarko stock in the weeks ahead of the April 12 announcement by Chevron and Anadarko.

Anadarko’s stock soared from $46.80 a share to well above $63 after the deal became public. The SEC alleged that the suspicious stock buys took place following key moments in the negotiations between the two companies.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Bidding-war-for-Anadarko-now-includes-allegations-13805368.php

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and now this

US SEC Obtains Asset Freeze Over Suspected Illegal Trading In Anadarko
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 29 obtained an asset freeze in connection with suspected fraudulent trading in Anadarko Petroleum Corp. before the oil company agreed to be acquired by rival Chevron Corp.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods in Manhattan granted the freeze over accounts linked to suspicious purchases between Feb. 8 and April 1 by unknown buyers of Anadarko securities, who the SEC said stand to make roughly $2.5 million in illicit profits, according to a court filing.

In a separate complaint, the SEC said the traders were unknown as they used accounts located in Britain and Cyprus, making a series of "large, unprecedented purchases" of call option contracts in Anadarko days after the company began acquisition talks, and weeks before the potential agreement was made public.

"The timing, size, nature, and profitability of the Defendants' trades, as well as the lack of prior history of significant Anadarko options trading in the subject accounts, make the trades at issue highly suspicious," the SEC wrote.
https://www.hartenergy.com/news/us-sec-obtains-asset-freeze-over-suspected-illegal-trading-anadarko-179496