Occidental Petroleum Corp., Houston, has entered into an agreement to purchase Anadarko Petroleum Corp. creating a combined company with about $5.6 billion in retirement plan assets.
The transaction, valued at $57 billion in cash and stock, has been approved unanimously by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the second half of 2019, according to an Occidental news release Thursday.
The announcement ends weeks of speculation regarding the future of Anadarko following Occidental stepping in with an offer for the company following the April 12 announcement by Chevron Corp., San Ramon, Calif., that it was going to purchase Anadarko. That merger would have created a combined company with $35.4 billion in assets.
As of Dec. 31, Occidental Petroleum's defined benefit plan assets totaled $338 million, according to the company's most recent 10-K filing. The company's defined contribution plan assets totaled $2.4 billion as of Dec. 31, 2017, according to the company's most recent 11-K filing.
The Woodlands, Texas-based Anadarko's defined benefit plan assets totaled $1.3 billion, also as of Dec. 31, according to the company's most recent 10-K filing, and defined contribution assets totaled $1.6 billion as of Dec. 31, 2017, according to its most recent 11-K filing.
Occidental spokeswoman Melissa E. Schoeb could not be immediately reached to provide further information.
