ConocoPhillips-Marathon Merger Hits Hurdle: FTC Requests More Info, Delays Deal

On Thursday, ConocoPhillips COP and Marathon Oil Corporation MRO received a Second Request from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to extend the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period.

The merger will proceed after the FTC review and fulfillment of other conditions in the merger agreement.

ConocoPhillips and Marathon are working with the FTC on its review and expect the merger to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, pending regulatory approvals and Marathon stockholder approval.

In May, ConocoPhillips disclosed a definitive deal to acquire Marathon Oil in an all-stock transaction with an enterprise value of $22.5 billion.

This acquisition is anticipated to add over 2 billion barrels of resource with an estimated average point forward cost of supply of less than $30 per barrel WTI to ConocoPhillips’ existing U.S. onshore portfolio.

Investors can gain exposure to COP via IShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF IEO and Westwood Salient Enhanced Energy Income ETF WEEI.

Investors can gain exposure to MRO via Invesco Energy Exploration & Production ETF PXE and Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF RSPG.

Also Read: ConocoPhillips Set For Growth With Marathon Oil Acquisition: Analysts Anticipate Accretive Financials And Enhanced Asset Base

Price Action: COP shares are down 0.62% at $113.28, and MRO is down 0.70% at $28.41 at the last check Friday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo by JHVEPhoto via Shutterstock

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