Warren Buffett was willing to invest $20 billion to help Occidental Petroleum acquire Anadarko Petroleum, double the investment the Oracle of Omaha eventually committed to the Houston-based driller, sources told CNBC’s David Faber.
The Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO is also receiving a $50 million signing fee as part of his company’s $10 billion investment in Occidental, sources said.
Occidental revealed on Tuesday that Berkshire has committed to invest $10 billion in the company to help fund its proposed acquisition of Anadarko. Berkshire would make the investment by purchasing 100,000 shares of preferred stock, which pays out an 8% annual dividend.
Buffett’s investment is contingent on Occidental striking a deal to buy Anadarko, which has an agreement in place to be bought by Chevron. Berkshire will pocket the signing fee whether or not the deal goes through, sources told Faber.
In a CNBC interview that aired Friday, Buffett revealed that the deal with Occidental came together in a matter of days, Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick he received a request to meet with Occidental through Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan last Friday, met with the driller’s CEO Vicki Hollub on Sunday morning, and agreed to the deal within about an hour.
Occidental did not return a request for comment.
Source: CNBC
