Icahn Takes Nearly 6% Stake in Talisman Energy
Activist investor Carl Icahn id that he has bought nearly 6% of Talisman Energy Inc., TLM.T +4.78% the Canadian oil-and-gas company whose efforts to restructure have had mixed results.Mr. Icahn's history with oil and gas assets goes back to (at least) 1985's Phillips Petroleum greenmail which was followed by his brokering peace between Texaco and Penzoil in 1987.
Mr. Icahn said Monday on messaging service Twitter that he may have conversations with Talisman's management regarding strategic alternatives and board seats, among other topics.
The tweet came out about the same time as a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that showed Mr. Icahn had acquired roughly 61.6 million of Talisman's shares.
The news sent shares of the Calgary, Alberta, company up 6.1% to $13.53 in after-hours trading.
Talisman has been hit hard by a slump in North American natural-gas prices, and has announced plans to raise cash by selling up to $3 billion in assets.
The company, which depends on natural gas for the bulk of its earnings and has posted a string of disappointing financial results, earned $97 million in the latest quarter, half the year-earlier level....MORE
This is not out of character.
