HOUSTON (Reuters) – Noble Energy shareholders on Friday approved a deal to sell oil and gas to Chevron Corp. No. 2 made it a shale oil producer and gave it international natural gas reserves close to growing markets.
-L-stock deals put Noble Energy at about 1 4.1 billion, have a debt of 8 8 billion, and the vote cemented the first energy deal after global fuel demand was crushed by the coronavirus.
Noble’s addition will boost Chevron’s U.S. shale oil holdings, making it the No. 2 maker behind EOG Resources, according to data from Rystad Energy. It also adds about 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. Noble’s Leviathan in Israeli waters, one of the world’s largest gas exploration in the last decade, began pumping gas from the area late last year.
No 89% Noble shareholders voted in favor of the deal, while according to regulatory filings only 60% voted for a merger-related executive payment. Proxy advisor Glass Lewis recommended voting for the deal but against “excessive” executive payments, which would start with the company’s sale.
The deal has become even cheaper for Chevron since it was announced in July with a કિંમત 1 billion price tag, as shares of both companies are trading oil together. The deal is worth about $ 4.1 billion, based on Friday’s closing price of $ 71.19. Noble investors will receive 0.1191 shares of Chevron for each Noble share.
Activist investor Elliott Management Corp., which took an undisclosed stake in Noble but never publicly opposed the deal, denied Friday how it voted for its shares because it sold or held its stake. .
The deal is expected to close earlier this quarter.
It comes during a turbulent year for the oil and gas industry, and Edward Jones analyst Jennifer Rowland said the “barrier to corporate deals remains low.” “Any deal that requires significant savings or the price of oil to justify paid prices will not be well received.”
Last year Chevron withdrew from the deal for petroleum and took a break fee of $ 1 billion, a decision that would seem even better as oil prices plummet.
Reporting by Jennifer Hiller in Houston, edited by Franklin Paul, Matthew Lewis and Richard Chang
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