BP plc To Divest Stake In JV (BP, WLP, CHK, CRM)
BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP) had put up its half-share of its huge Russian joint venture up for sale on Friday. A sale of its half stake in TNK-BP could raise around $30 billion for the company, which would help to fund the on-going cost of cleaning up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and allow it to invest in higher growth deals.
Additionally, BP’s 225,000 barrel per day (bpd) Cherry Point, Washington, refinery reported flaring on Friday due to a naphtha stripper malfunction, as per the notice the refinery filed with the U.S. National Response Center.
WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:WLP) plans to buy 1-800 Contacts Inc., a retailer of contact-lens and eyewear. However, the purchase price is not disclosed. The plan is a recent indication that health insurers are trying to diversify and to increase their ties to consumers. The transaction will close in the third quarter and start contributing to WellPoint’s per-share earnings in 2014.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) on June 1, 2012, announced a significant new discovery in the Hogshooter play in the Anadarko Basin of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma. The company owns approximately 30,000 net acres in the play, which are more than 90% held by production (HBP) from its legacy deeper Granite Wash production.
The company has completed two horizontal wells in the Hogshooter formation to date. This successful exploratory well was drilled more than five miles from established Hogshooter production, but in a section of land where three wells had already been drilled to other formations.
salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) today said that it has agreed to acquire Buddy Media, for approximately $689 million payable in cash and salesforce.com equity. The deal is expected to be completed during fiscal third quarter ending October 31, 2012. The company will buy Buddy Media for about $467 million in cash and $184 million in salesforce.com common stock, and $38 million in vested salesforce.com options and restricted stock units.
Additionally, the company expects to provide revenue and EPS guidance for its fiscal third quarter, including the effects of this transaction, when it announces results for its second fiscal quarter, ended July 31, 2012.