Hess Board Unanimously Recommends Shareholders Approve Chevron Sale

Today Hess Corporation announced in a securities filing that its board has unanimously advised shareholders to vote in favor of the companys sale to Chevron The deal valued at 53 billion has received initial support from Exxon Mobil as well

Delays in Deal Closing

The closing of the 53 billion deal however has faced delays The US Federal Trade Commission issued a second request for information and there have been contract arbitration filings by Hesss partners in Guyana namely Exxon Mobil and CNOOC Ltd These filings seek to assert a right of first refusal on any sale of Hesss Guyana assets adding complexity to the deal

Merger Consideration

Hesss US Securities and Exchange filing stated that the merger is considered fair to and in the best interests of the Hess stockholders

Exxon Mobils Position

Exxon Mobil had initially expressed support for the proposed merger before the arbitration cases were filed In its filing Hess noted a statement from Exxon indicating its support for the deal We look forward to continuing our successful operations in the Stabroek block with Chevron pending the deal closing Exxon stated as cited by Hess

Consolidation of Arbitration Cases

Furthermore Hess revealed that an arbitration case filed by Chinas CNOOC also asserting a right of first refusal was consolidated on March 26 with its own and Exxons arbitration cases adding another dimension to the ongoing proceedings