(Chevron by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News; Hess by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)
Chevron Corp. bought nearly 5% of Hess Corp. as a show of confidence that it will win the arbitration battle with Exxon Mobil Corp. that has delayed the Hess takeover for more than a year.
Chevron bought 15,380,000 Hess shares between January and March this year, the Houston-based company said in a statement, and the stake is worth about $2.3 billion at today’s price. The purchases were made at a discount to the price implied by Chevron’s $53 billion all-stock takeover of Hess agreed in 2023.
The purchases “reflect Chevron’s continuing confidence in the consummation of the pending acquisition of Hess,” the company said.
Chevron agreed to buy Hess in 2023 chiefly for its 30% stake in the world’s fastest growing major oil project in Guyana, which is operated by Exxon. But about six months after the deal was agreed, Exxon filed for arbitration, arguing it has a right of first refusal over Hess’s Guyana stake. Chevron claims the right does not apply in the case of a corporate merger. The case is scheduled to be heard in May with a decision by September.
Chevron’s purchases of Hess stock this year came in addition to regular buybacks of its own stock, the company said.
