Sources at CNBC are saying that activist investor Carl Icahn has taken a small stake in Oxy.
Shares of Occidental jumped 2% in extended trading Friday, immediately following the news and over the weekend, many sources reported a $8.8B deal to sell off international assets to Total. Oxy had previously said it planned to divest $10 billion to $15 billion in assets as a part of its consolidation plan following a successful acquisition of Anadarko, so this agreement would satisfy a large portion of that divestment.
Oxy also upped its cash deal to 80%. These moves signal its willing to pull out all of the stops, says David Blackmon, in Forbes.
It's still unknown what Icahn's role will be or stake, but this comes as news earlier this week that Warren Buffett invested $10 billion in Houston-based Occidental in an effort to help the takeover bid.
CNBC reported earlier Friday that Buffett was willing to invest as much as $20 billion.
Motley Fool's Matthew DiLallo says the deal is no good citing the 'excessive' premium Vicki Hollub and her team are willing to put up for Anadarko.
We're still waiting for Silicon Valley to jump in on this deal. This week will sure be one to watch.