LNG and shale player Anadarko restarts takeover talks with Occidental on $38Bln offer
Anadarko Petroleum Corp, the US domestic oil and gas operator and stakeholder in Mozambique LNG, said it intended to resume negotiations with Occidental Petroleum Corp. in response to its takeover offer valued at $38 billon.
The Anadarko statement follows its acceptance on April 11 of a takeover bid of $33Bln from Chevron Corp. and the signing of a formal merger agreement.
“Anadarko is resuming its earlier negotiations with Occidental because Anadarko's board of directors, following consultation with its financial and legal advisors, has unanimously determined that the Occidental proposal could reasonably be expected to result in a ‘superior proposal’ as defined in the Chevron merger agreement,” stated Anadarko.
“The Occidental proposal reflects significant improvement with respect to indicative value, terms and conditions, and closing certainty as compared to any previous proposal Occidental made to Anadarko,” it added.
Anadarko, whose headquarters are near Houston, is being target because of its strength in US shale production, especially in the Delaware Basin of Texas and New Mexico. Its other main US assets are in Colorado and the Gulf of Mexico.
It also owns valuable assets in deep water oil and LNG, including Anadarko’s planned onshore development in Mozambique which is advancing, according to its latest earnings statement.
The company remains positioned to take a final investment decision on Mozambique LNG in the first half of this year.
Analysts said the competition to acquire Anadarko may force Chevron to consider whether it should make a higher offer.
Analysts noted that Chevron is a substantial LNG player and operates two world-class plants in Western Australia and would fit with Anadarko’s development plans for Mozambique.
The $33Bln bid from Chevron and the $38Bln offer from Occidental would be valued at an additional $17Bln because of the scale of Anadarko’s debt commitments.
Occidental, a major North American chemicals manufacturer, has no LNG assets and is centred on US oil and gas as well as midstream, marketing and refining.
