Update: Another Bid For Anadarko

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has confirmed that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Occidental Petroleum Corp. under which Anadarko shareholders would receive $38 in cash and 0.6094 shares of Occidental common stock for each share of Anadarko common stock.

Occidental said its offer was “a superior proposal” that would equal $76 per share, representing a premium of approximately 20% to the value of Anadarko’s pending transaction.

As announced on April 12, following unanimous approval from the company’s board of directors, Anadarko entered into a definitive agreement with Chevron Corp. under which a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Anadarko in a stock and cash transaction valued at $33 billion, or $65 per share.

In accordance with the terms of the Chevron merger agreement, and in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, Anadarko said its board of directors “will carefully review Occidental’s proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company’s stockholders.”

The Anadarko board has not made any determination as to whether Occidental’s proposal constitutes, or could reasonably be expected to result in, a superior proposal under the terms of the Chevron merger agreement. The Anadarko board expects to respond to Occidental’s proposal upon completing its review, and accordingly reaffirmed its existing recommendation of the transaction with Chevron at this time.

“Occidental is a leader in using technological innovation to create value, and we will deploy our expertise to enhance the performance and productivity of Anadarko’s assets not only in the Permian, but globally,” said Vicki Hollub, president and chief executive officer of Occidental. “Occidental and Anadarko have a highly complementary asset portfolio, providing us with a unique opportunity to realize significant operating, cost, and capital allocation synergies and achieve near-term cash flow accretion.

“We have been focused on Anadarko for several years because we have long believed that we are ideally positioned to generate compelling value from a combination with them. We look forward to engaging immediately with Anadarko’s board and stakeholders to deliver this superior transaction.”