Houston Chronicle by Jordan Blum May 6, 2019
Anadarko Petroleum said Monday it is siding with Occidental Petroleum's sweetened acquisition offer, switching suitors and jilting Chevron for now.
The escalating bidding war for The Woodlands-based Anadarko puts Oxy in driver's seat, placing pressure on Chevron to up its offer or walk away with the $1 billion breakup fee negotiated in its earlier merger agreement with Anadarko.
In a statement, Anadarko said it would terminate its merger agreement with Chevron in order to enter into a new one with Occidental. Chevron, which has four days to make a counteroffer, declined to comment.
The decision comes after Houston-based Oxy improved its offer on Sunday, adding a lot more cash to its cash-and-stock proposal to acquire Anadarko. That followed an agreement to sell nearly $9 billion of Anadarko's Africa assets to the French energy major Total, if the deal is finalized, and a commitment from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to provide $10 billion to help finance Oxy's bid for Anadarko.
Occidental is much smaller than the California supermajor Chevron, but Oxy has proven itself determined to complete a deal it has pursued for nearly two years. The key prize in the contest: Anadarko's extensive holdings in the Permian Basin oil field in West Texas, where both Occidental and Chevron are leading producers.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Anadarko-picks-Oxy-s-bid-jilts-Chevron-13822395.php
