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On Wednesday,May 29th local time,ConocoPhillips announced on its official website that it has reached a final acquisition agreement with Marathon Oil Corporation.
According to the agreement,ConocoPhillips will acquire Marathon Oil through full stock trading.For each share of Marathon Oil’s common stock held by Marathon Oil’s shareholders,they will receive 0.2550 shares of ConocoPhillips Oil’s common stock,which is 14.7%higher than Marathon Oil’s closing price on Tuesday and 16.0%higher than the weighted average trading price over the past 10 days.
This means that the total value of the transaction is as high as$22.5 billion,including$5.4 billion in net debt.As of the time of publication,Marathon Oil(stock code:MRO),which is currently trading,has risen nearly 8%,with a total market value of over 16 billion US dollars;ConocoPhillips fell nearly 4%,hitting a new low since March 13th.
The press release stated that the acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.ConocoPhillips stated that this transaction can immediately increase the company’s revenue.In addition,Conoco announced that it will increase its common stock dividend by 34%starting from the fourth quarter and plans to repurchase$20 billion worth of shares in the three years leading up to the completion of the transaction.
ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance wrote in a statement,”The acquisition of Marathon Oil further deepens our investment portfolio,aligns with our financial framework,and adds high-quality,low-cost supply inventory to our leading position in the United States.”
It is understood that ConocoPhillips,headquartered in Houston,Texas,is the third largest oil producing company in the United States.Based on recoverable reserves and annual production of oil and gas,it is the world’s largest independent exploration and production(E&P)company.In terms of market value,ConocoPhillips ranks third among American oil and gas companies,only behind ExxonMobil and Chevron.
In March of this year,Lance mentioned in an interview that”integration”is the right thing to do for the US energy industry.”Our industry needs to be integrated,with too many participants,scale is important,and business diversity is important.”According to insiders,ConocoPhillips has been competing with its competitor Devin Energy for several weeks for Marathon Oil.
Earlier this year,ConocoPhillips lost to Diamondback Energy in a competition for Endeavor Energy.According to the news,Diamondback’s last-minute offer caused ConocoPhillips to”miss out on a good opportunity”,with the former ultimately taking Endeavor for$26 billion.
Last October,ExxonMobil and Chevron respectively announced large-scale acquisition agreements for Pioneer Natural Resources and Hess;Two months later,the”stock god”Buffett,who heavily invested in Western Oil,also announced the decision to acquire CrownRock LP.
Kate Richard,CEO of Warwick Energy,once described that the US shale oil and gas industry has started the”Pac Man”game,”either eating others or being eaten.”.