WASHINGTON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. oil company Chevron Corporation said Thursday that it won't submit a letter increasing its offer to acquire Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, a move it expected to result in Anadarko terminating the merger deal.
Chevron said in a statement that upon termination of its merger agreement with Anadarko, the latter will be required to pay Chevron a termination fee of 1 billion dollars.
Chevron also plans to increase its share repurchase rate by 25 percent to 5 billion dollars per year, the statement added.
"Winning in any environment doesn't mean winning at any cost. Cost and capital discipline always matter, and we will not dilute our returns or erode value for our shareholders for the sake of doing a deal," said Chevron's Chairman and CEO Michael Wirth.
Houston, Texas-based Anadarko said in a statement Monday that its board of directors "has unanimously determined" that Occidental Petroleum Coporation's revised 38-billion-dollar bid is superior to the 33-billion-dollar buyout proposed by Chevron.
"Anadarko intends to terminate the Chevron Merger Agreement in order to enter into a definitive merger agreement with Occidental," Anadarko said.
Part of the reason for Occidental's success is the help from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Berkshire has committed to a 10 billion-U.S.-dollar preferred stock investment in Occidental contingent upon the latter entering into and completing its acquisition of Anadarko.
Buffett told shareholders at Berkshire's annual shareholders meeting Saturday that his company will engage in more such deals in the energy sector in the future.
"If somebody wants a lot of certain money for a deal, they've seen that I can get a call on Friday afternoon, and they make a date with me on Saturday, and on Sunday it's done," the 88-year-old legendary investor said. Enditem
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