San Francisco — Elliott Management Corporation is
meeting BHP Billiton shareholders in Australia as the activist investor
urges BHP to overhaul its businesses, a person familiar with the matter
said.
Members of Elliott’s BHP investment team, including James Smith who is heading the campaign and oversees Elliott’s Hong Kong office, are going over details of their plan for Melbourne-based BHP with
other shareholders, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the meetings are private.
New York-based Elliott, which owns a 4.1% stake in BHP, outlined proposals including a spin-off of BHP’s US oil assets in a letter made public on April 10. The activist fund also wants the company to combine its two legal entities listed in Sydney and London into one group headquartered in Australia. BHP responded by saying it was been in talks with Elliott for about eight months, and the costs and risks associated with the proposals outweighed the benefits.
BHP spokesperson James Agar declined to comment.
BHP fell 0.5% to A$23.76 in Sydney on Tuesday, extending the decline in 2017 to about 5%. That compares with the close on April 10 of A$25.73, when the shares jumped 4.6% on publication of Elliott’s proposals.
On the JSE, BHP was down 0.7% at R201.69 at 9:25am.
The producer said last week it was seeking to divest as much as 20,234ha in a Texas gasfield and could resurrect the sale of its underperforming Fayetteville shale gas assets in Arkansas. BHP has almost halved its US shale portfolio since 2012, according to filings.
Activist investors typically meet with other shareholders to win support for changes at targeted companies. Elliott was founded by billionaire Paul Singer.
The Sydney Morning Herald earlier reported Elliott’s planned meetings with shareholders in Australia.
Bloomberg
Members of Elliott’s BHP investment team, including James Smith who is heading the campaign and oversees Elliott’s Hong Kong office, are going over details of their plan for Melbourne-based BHP with
other shareholders, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the meetings are private.
New York-based Elliott, which owns a 4.1% stake in BHP, outlined proposals including a spin-off of BHP’s US oil assets in a letter made public on April 10. The activist fund also wants the company to combine its two legal entities listed in Sydney and London into one group headquartered in Australia. BHP responded by saying it was been in talks with Elliott for about eight months, and the costs and risks associated with the proposals outweighed the benefits.
BHP spokesperson James Agar declined to comment.
BHP fell 0.5% to A$23.76 in Sydney on Tuesday, extending the decline in 2017 to about 5%. That compares with the close on April 10 of A$25.73, when the shares jumped 4.6% on publication of Elliott’s proposals.
On the JSE, BHP was down 0.7% at R201.69 at 9:25am.
The producer said last week it was seeking to divest as much as 20,234ha in a Texas gasfield and could resurrect the sale of its underperforming Fayetteville shale gas assets in Arkansas. BHP has almost halved its US shale portfolio since 2012, according to filings.
Activist investors typically meet with other shareholders to win support for changes at targeted companies. Elliott was founded by billionaire Paul Singer.
The Sydney Morning Herald earlier reported Elliott’s planned meetings with shareholders in Australia.
Bloomberg
No comments:
Post a Comment