Icahn Slams Occidental, says Buffett Took CEO & # 39; to the Cleaners & # 39;

(Bloomberg) – Occidental Petroleum Corps leaders put together their $ 38 billion deal for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in a job preservation bid to avert a takeover itself, according to activist investor Carl Icahn.

Vikke Hollub and Vicki Hollub, Mayor and Eugene Batchelder, seem to have negotiated the "extremely risky" transaction because they were concerned that their oil and gas explorer was in the crosshairs of a potential buyer, Icahn said in a letter that will be sent to Occidental shareholders on Monday.

"I think Hollub and Batchelder know what is good for them and their personal agendas, but do not particularly care about what is good for the shareholders," Icahn said in the letter. A copy of this was reviewed by Bloomberg. "With [Occidental] weakened and bad, Hollub and Batchelder horrified that it would be a bid for the company that shareholders would accept."

The letter is Icahn's last salvo in the activist's investor attack on Occidental after successfully overthrowing Chevron Corp for Anadarko in May, beating the oil industry's biggest deal for at least four years. Icahn, who owns a $ 1.7 billion stake in Occidental, has lambasted the financing of the deal and lack of shareholder approval.

Occidental has urged shareholders not to support Icahn's attempt to replace four directors, claiming that there is no interest in the shareholders. Separately, it also appointed Robert Shearer, former CEO of BlackRock Inc., to the board earlier this month.

Push Back

Hollub pushed back against Icahn's nominees in his own letter to the shareholders Monday, saying none of them have "skills that are additive or superior to our existing board members." The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, is expected to deliver $ 3.5 billion in cost and capital expenditure synergies, she said.

"Mr Icahn's own statements show that he does not understand or support the strategic and economic benefits of the acquisition, and we believe that his directors will interfere with our ability to integrate Anadarko's valuable assets, execute our sales and sharing plan, and deliver it The full promise of this acquisition at this critical time, she said, 19659009] The back and forth comes less than a week after Icahn formally asked Western investors to help him replace four of the company's 10 directors and potentially press for sale. Icahn had talked to Hollub several times over the past six weeks about his concerns over the Anadarko agreement, he said in a proxy filing last week.

In an interview on Bloomberg TV, Icahn said he was trying to prevent Occidental from repeating errors similar to the ones that negotiated the Anadarko agreement, Hollub could have arranged funding for the agreement months in advance, but the "panic" when b The need arose, he said.

"You need someone like us, or a voice on that board to keep these people honest," Icahn said. "The board has made an agreement that I think is ridiculous. They could panic again."

Hollub and Batchelder have an "egregious track record" despite being highly paid, Icahn said in the letter. Occidental's "rubber stamped" Anadarko deal, negotiated it too quickly, as it structured it to avoid shareholder voting, he said.

Occidental limited mergers and acquisition experience leaders gave up too much in the $ 10 billion financing agreement they hit with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to persuade Chevron, Icahn said. Hollub was "arrogant" to believe she could negotiate with Buffett, he said.

"Buffett literally took her to the cleaners," he said in the letter. "Buffett's deal was like taking candy from a baby and amazingly she even thanked him publicly for it!"

Buffett will receive 8% return on his preferred stock to fund the deal plus warrants to buy common stock, a similar one structure that finances previously used by taking deposits in Bank of America Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Icahn claimed that at least one major investor he knows would have provided funding without subscription rights.

Icahn filed papers last week and applied for support from 20% of the occupied shareholders, which would force the company to set an Icahn would then demand his written consent to the removal, which he described as a "long and costly" process .

Sto Ry continues