Activist investor Carl Icahn will not have access to Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s Anadarko takeover records to support his proxy fight against the oil firm's board, a Delaware court judge ruled on Nov. 14.
Icahn sued Occidental in Delaware Court of Chancery last May seeking financial records and details of its negotiations with Anadarko. He has since committed to a proxy fight to appoint new management and accelerate asset sales to repay debt taken on with the $38 billion deal.
In a sharply worded decision, Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights wrote Icahn's complaints of Occidental mismanagement "appear to be nothing more than disagreements" with the company's directors and his lawsuit failed to show how the documents would advance his proxy contest.
"We intend to appeal his decision because we believe understanding what happened in the Oxy boardroom is very important to our proxy fight and for all stockholders," said Andrew Langham, general counsel for Icahn Enterprises.
Occidental did not respond to requests for comment.
Icahn last week disclosed the sale of 10 million shares of the oil and gas producer, reducing his Occidental holdings by nearly a third, according to a letter to shareholders. His stake, valued at about $1.6 billion last May, was worth about $900 million after the sale, he wrote.
Replacing the company's leadership would cause its value to "meaningfully increase," he said in an interview last week. Icahn then declined to say how much he lost on the sale of the 10 million Occidental shares.
Occidental traded at $37.76 on Thursday, down from $65.33 on April 12 when the company's interest in Anadarko was first disclosed.
Recommended Reading
FERC Approves Extension of Tellurian LNG Project
2024-02-19 - Completion deadline of Tellurian’s Driftwood project was moved to 2029 and phase 1 could come online in 2027.
US NatGas Flows to Freeport LNG Export Plant Drop Near Zero
2024-04-11 - The startup and shutdown of Freeport has in the past had a major impact on U.S. and European gas prices.
Freeport LNG Says Trains 1, 2 at Texas Facility May Shut Until May
2024-03-20 - Freeport LNG on March 20 said its Train 2 liquefaction unit at the Texas plant has been shut down, while Train 1 will be taken down imminently as it expects inspections and any subsequent repairs at both the units to be completed by May.
Freeport LNG's Feedgas Usage Falls Again
2024-03-11 - Natural gas flowing to Freeport LNG's Texas facility was down to 758 MMcf on March 11 from 1463 MMcf on March 3, LSEG data showed.
Asia Spot LNG at 3-month Peak on Steady Demand, Supply Disruption
2024-04-12 - Heating demand in Europe and production disruption at the Freeport LNG terminal in the U.S. pushed up prices, said Samuel Good, head of LNG pricing at commodity pricing agency Argus.