Occidental - Anadarko Deal Gets U.S. FTC Approval

(RTTNews) - Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) said that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has approved the company's pending acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC).

The approval satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the pending acquisition, which remains subject to other customary closing conditions, including approval from Anadarko's stockholders. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2019.

In early May 2019, Occidental Petroleum agreed to buy Anadarko Petroleum in a transaction valued at $57 billion, including the assumption of Anadarko's debt. As per the deal, Occidental would acquire Anadarko for $59.00 in cash and 0.2934 Occidental stock per share of Anadarko.

In Late-May 2019, Activist investor Carl Icahn, whose firms then own about $1.6 billion of Occidental stock, said in a lawsuit that Occidental's recent deal to buy Anadarko for $38 billion "fundamentally misguided and hugely overpriced," and said "management wanted to avoid a vote at almost all costs."

Occidental's offer for Anadarko topped one by Chevron Corp and included a $10 billion financing deal with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A, BRKa).