NEW YORK – Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended that shareholders of Noble Energy Inc vote in favor of the energy producer’s proposed acquisition by Chevron Corp, the proxy advisory firm said in a statement on Friday.
Chevron is aiming to purchase Noble Energy for around $5 billion in stock. When the transaction was announced on July 20, it marked the first big energy deal since the coronavirus pandemic crushed global fuel demand and sent crude prices to historic lows.
In its statement, ISS noted the all-stock structure of the deal will allow Noble shareholders to benefit from the synergies created by the combined company’s operations, as well as Chevron’s dividend.
The fact that Noble’s board weighed a number of alternative scenarios and concluded the Chevron proposal was the best available to it also supported voting in favor of the deal, the statement said.
ISS also concluded that, given energy prices are forecast to remain close to current levels through 2024, Noble would struggle to generate enough cash to both return money to shareholders and invest in its Eastern Mediterranean assets, if it remained a standalone company.
Noble shareholders are due to vote on the Chevron deal on Oct. 2.
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