Occidental Adopts Poison Pill Plan With 15% Trigger After Icahn Raises Stake

By Colin Kellaher

Occidental Petroleum Corp. on Friday said its board adopted a shareholder rights plan with a 15% trigger, a day after billionaire shareholder activist Carl Icahn revealed that he has built a nearly 10% stake in the troubled oil-and-gas company.

Occidental said measure is designed to protect stockholders from efforts to capitalize on recent market volatility and macroeconomic conditions in order to gain control of the company without paying all stockholders an appropriate premium.

Shares of the Houston-based company were trading up nearly 6% Friday morning to $12.60, but are still down about 70% from their closing price of $42.12 on Feb. 21, before coronavirus fears set off three weeks of turmoil in equity and commodity markets.

On Tuesday, Occidental said its board slashed the quarterly dividend by 86% and cut its capital budget following Monday's oil-market rout that drove its shares down 53% on the day.

Mr. Icahn, who held a roughly 2.5% stake as of the end of 2019, has been criticizing Occidental's $38 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for almost a year and is seeking to replace the company's board at its annual meeting this spring.

The company's market value has fallen to below $11 billion from more than $46 billion just before it struck the Anadarko deal.

Occidental said it will distribute the rights later this month, adding that it will ask shareholders to approve the plan at the annual meeting. The company said the rights will expire immediately if shareholders reject the plan, or in one year if investors approve the proposal.

-Cara Lombardo contributed to this article

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2020 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)

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