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ARCO shareholders approve combination with BP Amoco Company still responding to informational requests from Federal Trade Commission, negotiating with state Kristen Nelson PNA News Editor
ARCO shareholders overwhelmingly approved the company’s proposed combination with BP Amoco at a special shareholder meeting held Aug. 30 in Los Angeles. ARCO spokeswoman Linda Dozier told PNA that 97.3 percent of the shares voted were voted for the merger. Of all the outstanding shares, she said, 75.7 percent voted in favor of merger.
The all-share transaction, previously approved by the boards of both companies, will involve the exchange of 0.82 BP Amoco American Depository shares for each ARCO share.
Short-term pain Kevin Meyers, president of ARCO Alaska Inc., told PNA Aug. 30 that the next step is the vote by BP Amoco shareholders, then approval by the Federal Trade Commission and the state of Alaska for the combination. Those approvals, he said, involve further discussions and some negotiations.
“Then, once we’ve secured those, we can close the deal and begin to work through a whole list of merger items. Men and women from both companies, Meyers said, will have to work through that checklist.”
Goals during the process, he said, are safety and the protection of the environment; delivery of 1999 goals; working toward the merger and then merging into one company.
“It’s human nature at times like this to perhaps be a bit sad, looking at the end of an era for ARCO … but it’s important to remember it’s the end of one era and the beginning of another.” ARCO has, he said, worked with BP as a competitor and as a partner for 40 years. Meyers said that while he acknowledged there would be short-term pain for employees who did not have jobs with the new company, he said he believed the combined company “can do even more for the state of Alaska, its employees and its shareholders.”
“We’ll get past the short-term pain,” he said.
Approvals still required “BP Amoco’s scale and financial strength will significantly enhance the value of ARCO’s assets and allow greater value to be realized than if ARCO remained an independent oil and gas company,” ARCO Chairman and CEO Mike Bowlin told shareholders at the Los Angeles meeting. “The new enterprise will have a stronger strategic position, enhanced efficiencies and cost competitiveness, and will generate significant growth opportunities.”
The combination remains subject to the approval of regulatory authorities, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission. ARCO said the companies currently are working to close the transaction later in the year.
ARCO Alaska spokeswoman Dawn Patience told PNA that ARCO is still responding to informational requests from the FTC.
BP Amoco announced its plan to acquire ARCO April 1. The companies have been negotiating with the administration of Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles on state concerns. Knowles said Aug. 23 that the state is most concerned about the lack of competition on the North Slope which would result from BP Amoco acquiring ARCO.
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