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Oct 6 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Inc said it is
reviewing strategic options for its oil and gas business,
including a spinoff or a joint venture, a week after its biggest
shareholder Carl Icahn said the energy and mining company was an
example of a "golden" buying opportunity.
Activist investor Icahn, who owned 8.8 percent of Freeport
as of Sept. 22, took aim at the company's spending and capital
structure as well as its executive compensation when he revealed
his stake in the company in August.
Freeport shares were up 3.5 percent at $11.57 in premarket
trading on Tuesday.
The separation of the oil and gas business will leave
Freeport with its mining assets, mainly copper and gold. About
60 percent of Freeport's 2014 revenue came from copper, while 20
percent from oil.
The energy business includes onshore and offshore assets in
Deepwater Gulf of Mexico, California, Louisiana and Wyoming.
Freeport said on Tuesday it its still considering an initial
public offering for the oil and gas business, which filed for an
IPO in June. ID:nBwd5lvNa
At that time Freeport Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Quirk
said the company will likely want to keep an 80 percent stake in
the business in the event of an IPO.
Freeport also said on Tuesday it has reduced the size of its
board to nine from 16. The five members who left have been named
to the board of the oil and gas business, to prepare for the
separation of the business.
The Arizona-based company said it will no longer have an
office of the chairman management structure.