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Hess Corporation (HES): $144.88
Deal Size: $60 billion
Last week was very slow on the M&A front with just two micro-cap deals announced, including a go-private deal of an “orbital launch company” that had gone public through a SPAC. The company is now being taken private by management for just $0.50 per share in cash.
Instead of writing about one of those two deals, I wanted to touch briefly upon the all stock acquisition of Hess (HES) by Chevron that we covered last week here. As mentioned last week, Exxon Mobil (XOM) and China’s CNOOC were asserting that they have the right to counter Chevron’s offer for Hess’s stake in the Guyana project, which Exxon operates and is one of the largest oil finds in years.
Exxon Mobile filed an arbitration claim against Hess with the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris last Wednesday. Exxon wants first right of refusal to purchase the 30% stake Hess holds in the Stabroek offshore oil block and thinks it has a strong case. Considering neither the original contract between Exxon, CNOOC and Hess nor the arbitration claim is public information, it is difficult for arbitrageurs to handicap this claim.