Exco Board Weighs Chief’s Buyout Offer
By CHRIS V. NICHOLSON
Article Tools
The board of Exco Resources, an oil and gas producer based in Dallas, said on Thursday that it was considering a buyout offer made by Douglas H. Miller, the company’s chief executive officer, which values Exco at $4.35 billion.
Mr. Miller told the board in October that he was interested in buying the company. He offered $20.50 cash for every share he did not already own, 38 percent above the share price before his bid was announced. The offer is yet another sign of the active management-led-buyout market.
The board said that it had “determined it is in the best interests of shareholders to commence a comprehensive and independent review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.”
The company has struck a so-called standstill agreement with Mr. Miller, which bars him from acquiring more shares, attempting to influence the board or seeking the support of other shareholders through proxies.
“There can be no assurance that the special committee’s exploration of strategic alternatives will result in a sale of the company or any other transaction,” the board said.
The board has hired Barclays Capital and Evercore Partners as its financial advisers and Kirkland & Ellis and Jones Day as counsel. Mr. Miller has hired J.P. Morgan Securities and Goldman Sachs as advisers and Vinson & Elkins as counsel.
Exco shares rose 26 cents, or 1.36 percent, to $19.34 on the news.
The company also announced significant increases in its proved and unproved natural gas reserves, saying that they had grown 28 percent and 114 percent, respectively, from the previous year. Exco claimed 1.5 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas reserves as of December 31, and said increases were coming from drilling in its Haynesville shale assets.
Mr. Miller said in his October letter that he had the support of Oaktree Capital Management, Ares Management and T. Boone Pickens, three of Exco’s major shareholders.
dealbook.nytimes.com |
