D.E. Shaw to Urge Anadarko to Run Open Sales Process

(Bloomberg) -- D.E. Shaw has urged Anadarko Petroleum Corp. to run an open process to sell itself after Occidental Petroleum Corp. said it was prepared to pay more than Chevron Corp. for the oil and gas producer, according to people familiar with the matter.

The New York-based investment firm has spoken with Anadarko’s management about its views and said it believes the $38 billion Occidental offer is superior to Chevron’s, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. Chevron agreed this month to acquire Anadarko for about $33 billion.

D.E. Shaw has also told Anadarko to remove any hurdles that would prevent other bidders from entering the process if it decides to accept Occidental’s offer or any others, the people said.

D.E. Shaw held a 0.6 percent stake in Anadarko at the end of December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The firm also owned 0.4 percent in Occidental and 0.06 percent of Chevron, the data shows.

A representatives for D.E. Shaw declined to comment. Representatives for Anadarko, based in The Woodlands, Texas, Chevron and Occidental didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Occidental offered to pay $76 a share for Anadarko on Thursday. Chevron agreed to buy the company for $65 a share on April 12. Both companies are offering to pay in cash and stock. Anadarko has said it would review the Occidental bid and continued to support the Chevron offer.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ed Hammond in New York at ehammond12@bloomberg.net;Scott Deveau in New York at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Matthew Monks, Michael Hytha

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