Occidental closes $55 billion Anadarko buy

Occidental Petroleum has completed the acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in a deal worth $55 billion, including the assumption of Anadarko’s debt.

Occidental said on Thursday that the merger was approved by U.S. antitrust regulators in early June and Occidental completed the acquisition on Thursday, August 8.

The closing of the transaction follows approval of the transaction by Anadarko’s shareholders at a Special Meeting held on August 8 where more than 99 percent of the shares voted in favor of the merger agreement.

According to the company, Anadarko shareholders are receiving $59 in cash and 0.2934 shares of Occidental common stock per share of Anadarko common stock in the transaction.

Effective after the end of trading on Thursday, Anadarko’s common stock is no longer trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Vicki Hollub, president and CEO of Occidental, said: “With Anadarko’s world-class asset portfolio now officially part of Occidental, we begin our work to integrate our two companies and unlock the significant value of this combination for shareholders.

“We expect to deliver at least $3.5 billion annually in cost and capital spending synergies and the focus of our board and management team is on execution to achieve the promise of this exciting combination. We look forward to updating the market on our continued progress in the months ahead.”

It is worth reminding that Occidental entered into a race with Chevron to buy Anadarko back in April. Soon after, Chevron decided to back out of the deal as Anadarko deemed Occidental’s offer as superior.

Chevron wanted to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Anadarko in a stock and cash transaction valued at $33 billion, or $65 per share.