Occidental bid over $70 a share for Anadarko, considering options: Sources

There was another bid for Anadarko Petroleum, the oil and gas explorer which Chevron said it was buying for $65 a share in cash and stock on Friday.

Occidental Petroleum bid more than $70 a share for Anadarko in cash and stock earlier, people familiar with the situation told CNBC, but the company ultimately decided to go with Chevron.

In addition to being higher, the Occidental bid contained more cash than the Chevron offer and would have required a shareholder vote, the people said.

However, the people familiar said there were some structural issues with the Occidental bid with which Anadarko may not have been as comfortable.

Occidental is now considering its options, people familiar told CNBC, but it’s unclear if the company will go after Anadarko in a hostile fashion.

The Chevron-Anadarko break-up fee is said to be 3% of the deal price, which is nearly $1 billion. That transaction will expand the second biggest U.S. energy company’s operations in shale oil and gas production, offshore drilling and liquefied natural gas exports. The deal also would be the 11th biggest in history for an energy and power company, according to Refinitiv.

– CNBC’s
Michael Sheetz
contributed to this report.