15 November 2015, News Wires – The world’s supermajors are sitting on more than half a trillion dollars combined in stock and cash that could be used for acquisitions, with ExxonMobil the richest among them, according to a report.
US giant ExxonMobil has about $320 billion in its coffers for potential acquisitions, Bloomberg reported, citing data the news wire compiled. Compatriot Chevron is far behind with about $65 billion in cash and its own shares tucked away.
UK rival BP have about $53 billion stashed Anglo-Dutch Shell has about $32.4 billion in cash available, according to Bloomberg.
ExxonMobil and BP were both rumoured to be the mystery suitor for US independent Apache when news emerged this week about efforts to acquire that company for some $18 billion.
Anadarko Petroleum revealed itself as the bidder, but said it had withdrawn the offer after Apache declined to provide access to internal financial data. Bloomberg first reported news of Apache as a takeover target.
John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital, told Bloomberg that now both Apache and Anadarko are takeover targets.
Speculation has been mounting that the number of major mergers and acquisitions will increase as the oil downturn drags on. However, Shell is not thought to be a major future acquirer after inking its own $69 billion megadeal for BG Group earlier this year.
French supermajor Total has about $30.5 billion available, mostly in cash, and US super independent ConocoPhillips has about $31.5 billion to spend in the form of stock.
ExxonMobil, for its part, made its two largest acquisitions of the last 20 years with stock – the $88 billion Mobil deal in 1999 and the $35 billion XTO Energy transaction in 2010.
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