In a release on Tuesday, the company said it is considering spinning off its oil and gas business to shareholders.
Advertisement
The news comes not longer after it was revealed that activist investor Carl Icahn has taken up a substantial stake in the business.
The separation of the oil and gas segment would leave Freeport with mainly copper and gold mining assets. The reconstituted FCX Board is comprised of seven independent directors; and two executive directors: James Moffett, Chairman, and Richard Adkerson, Vice Chairman, President and CEO.
According to a statement from the Phoenix-based miner, the previously disclosed potential public offering of a minority interest in Freeport-McMoRan Oil and Gas (FM O&G) remains an option.
Icahn’s disclosure of a stake in Freeport-McMoRan in late August came on the same day the company said it will reduce its US workforce by 10 percent as part of efforts to cut costs and will also cut its capital expenditure in 2016 by 29 percent. At the same time Freeport, which bet big on oil and gas with takeovers of Plains Exploration and McMoRan Exploration in 2012, has also been hurt by the huge slide in the price of oil over the a year ago.
Freeport shares were up 3.5 percent at $11.57 in premarket trading on Tuesday.
Freeport-McMoRan said it would focus on its leading position in the global copper industry, including managing its production, spending on capital projects and operations and enhancing cash flows and protecting liquidity.
Advertisement
The energy business includes onshore and offshore assets in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico, California, Louisiana and Wyoming.
