Continuing the musical theme, from the WSJ's Deal Journal:
Dan Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund has taken up a familiar call in the
oil-and-gas market: separate those retail chains from their energy
sources.
Third Point revealed today it has taken a “significant” stake in Murphy Oil MUR +4.13% and is going to be agitating for the company to break up.
Murphy Oil, an integrated oil and gas producer, refiner and seller,
would be better if it concentrated on its oil-heavy exploration and
production business, Third Point writes in its third-quarter letter.
While Murphy had in the past evaluated the possibility, it decided not to.
“We believe forgoing this accretive spin-off would be a major missed
opportunity,” Third Point writes, comparing a Murphy’s retail business
to Alimentation Couche-Tard ATD.B.T +0.09%, Casey’s General Stores, and Susser Holdings SUSS -1.03%. Based on their valuations, a spinoff would be well worth it for Murphy, Third Point says.
Oddly, Third Point doesn’t mention any of Murphy’s peers, which have announced similar types of spinoffs....MORE (including the BIIM ref)
