Occidental: Skipping shareholder merger vote will make its Anadarko bid superior to Chevron's

The logo for Occidental Petroleum is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) – Occidental Petroleum Corp said on Monday that its latest bid to take over Anadarko Petroleum Corp was designed to make sure Anadarko’s board considers its offer superior to one from Chevron Corp .

Occidental increased the cash component of its $38 billion bid to acquire Anadarko on Sunday, removing a requirement for any deal to receive the approval of Occidental’s shareholders.

Skipping the shareholder vote will allow for “clarity of closing,” which Occidental Chief Executive Vicki Hollub said was why Anadarko board members think Chevron’s $33 billion offer was superior to Occidental’s $38 billion bid – it would not require a Chevron shareholder vote.

Occidental did not want to skip the shareholder vote for a merger, but Hollub said it was in the best interest of shareholders to get a deal done without raising the overall price.

Reporting by Jennifer Hiller; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

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source: reuters.com