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Anadarko Petroleum is preparing to approve a hostile bid by its rival, Occidental Petroleum, for $ 55 billion, jeopardizing its sale to the big oil company Chevron, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Texas-based oil and gas company is expected to make a statement this week after its board of directors has determined that an offer in cash and shares of Occidental was greater than the $ 50 billion deal that She had concluded at the beginning of April with Chevron.
Anadarko's decision to endorse the Western bid would be a rare win for a hostile bidder, who is often rebuffed. Anadarko admitted last week that it had received an offer from Occidental, several weeks after rejecting the group's takeover advances.
Anadarko could not be contacted immediately for a comment, but last week he announced that he would "carefully consider Western's proposal to determine what course of action it believes is in the interest of superior of the shareholders of the company ".
Occidental, one of the five largest US oil and gas companies, has proposed to Anadarko shareholders to pay $ 76 a share to Anadarko shareholders, a 22% premium over the bid. Chevron, valued at approximately $ 63 per share.
Occidental's offer was split equally between cash and shares. Chevron offered to pay 0.39 of its own shares and $ 16.25 in cash for each outstanding share of Anadarko. Anadarko has agreed to pay Chevron $ 1 billion if he withdraws from the deal.
It is not clear if Chevron will increase its bid on Anadarko. However, people familiar with the oil company's thinking said Chevron was unlikely to embark on a bitter war for badets, the Financial Times reported. Chevron had previously refused to raise its offer after learning that Occidental had offered more than $ 70 per share to Anadarko.
Vicki Hollub, CEO of Occidental, said investors were worried the group would not take on more debt than it can handle as part of its bid on Anardarko © Scott Dalton / FT
An agreement would give Occidental a valuable area of shale oil as well as badets in the Gulf of Mexico and a natural gas project in Mozambique. This would be the biggest and boldest bet ever made by Occidental's executive director, Vicki Hollub.
"It's much more synergistic for us than any other company that can look at this issue," Hollub told the Financial Times last week.
Western's interest only came a few minutes after Anadarko announced its sale to Chevron earlier this month, but badysts warned they did not see how Hollub could outbid her biggest rival.
Mrs. Hollub has promised to sell up to $ 15 billion of badets if an agreement on the takeover of Anadarko was concluded, in part to gain the support of Western shareholders who must sign the sales agreement.
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