- BHP (BHP +1.2%) CEO Andrew Mackenzie says the company is considering further sales of its U.S. shale gas assets, as BHP copes with renewed attacks from activist hedge fund Elliott Management over the future of its energy business.
- BHP spent ~$20B buying U.S. shale assets earlier in the decade and has since written off more than half the value of the acquisitions, and Mackenzie admits "the acquisitions that took us into this business were poorly timed, that we paid too high a price."
- A rising tide of analysts and investors are backing the sale of the shale assets, with Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) saying BHP could receive ~$9B based on recent deals in the sector; divesting the assets would provide “additional capital to focus on the higher returning conventional assets and minerals portfolio," the firm says.
- Reps from BHP and Elliott are scheduled to meet tomorrow on the sidelines of a conference in Barcelona, Bloomberg reports.
- Now read: Nigerian oil workers extend Exxon (NYSE:XOM) strike to Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Shell (LON:RDSa), Eni
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