Occidental Completes Anadarko Buy

Occidental Petroleum Corp. said it has successfully completed its acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in a transaction valued at $55 billion, including the assumption of Anadarko’s debt.

“With Anadarko’s world-class asset portfolio now officially part of Occidental, we begin our work to integrate our two companies and unlock the significant value of this combination for shareholders,” said Vicki Hollub, Occidental president and CEO. “We expect to deliver at least $3.5 billion annually in cost and capital spending synergies and the focus of our Board and management team is on execution to achieve the promise of this exciting combination. We look forward to updating the market on our continued progress in the months ahead.”  

bThe closing of the transaction followed approval of thetransaction by Anadarko’s shareholders at a Special Meeting held Aug. 8. Morethan 99% of the shares voted at the Special Meeting were in favor of theOccidental merger agreement.  The closing puts an end to the somewhat tangled saga of Anadarko,which began this spring when the company announced a merger agreement with Chrevron.While that deal was in process, Occidental came along with a sweeter offer,prompting Anadarko to terminate its merger plans with Chevron, at the cost of a $1 billion termination fee.