Sweetened Anadarko Bid Didn't Aim to Avoid Vote, Occidental Says

(Bloomberg) -- The goal of a sweetened bid for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. wasn’t to avoid a shareholder vote, Occidental Petroleum Corp. Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub said Monday, though it does eliminate the need for one.

“Our objective in doing this was not at all to avoid the shareholder vote,” Hollub told analysts and investors on a conference call. “It was to ensure that we had a reasonable chance to make this happen.”

Occidental on Sunday moved a step closer to sealing its proposed $38 billion acquisition of Anadarko after upping the cash portion of the offer to 78 percent from 50 percent. It also pledged to cover the $1 billion breakup fee Anadarko would have to pay for abandoning an already-agreed to deal with Chevron Corp.

An increase in cash means the deal would no longer need to go to an Occidental shareholder vote, which had been a sticking point for Anadarko’s board of directors.

“We saw the two options as increase the share price or provide clarity of closing,” Hollub said. “We felt like it was in the best interest of our shareholders to hold our price where it is.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Rachel Adams-Heard in Houston at radamsheard@bloomberg.net;Kevin Crowley in Houston at kcrowley1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Christine Buurma, Joe Carroll

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