MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS US Upstream Renaissance Behind Freeport's Surprise Deals?

摘要

Mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) shocked investors last week with its agreed purchase of US independents Plains Exploration & Production and McMoRan Exploration for some $20 billion. Shareholders in FCX, the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, have at once been nonplussed and irate, raising questions as to why management would unexpectedly dilute the company's pure-play status less than two decades after Freeport's mining and energy assets were split in the name of shareholder value. Investors in Plains and McMoRan have meanwhile applauded the valuations they are set to receive. So what might sit behind this transformational, yet controversial pair of deals?