Nov 8 (Reuters) - Icahn Enterprises IEP.O, headed by billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, said on Friday it has submitted a proposal to boost its stake in refiner CVR Energy CVI.N to 81.3%.
The company, which already owns about 66.3% of CVR Energy, said it wants to buy 15 million additional shares in the Texas-based energy firm for $17.50 per share.
"CVR's shares are undervalued in the market and represent an attractive investment opportunity," Icahn Enterprises said in a statement.
The news, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, sent CVR's shares up 4.5% at $17.26 in premarket trading.
CVR Energy operates a 115,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Coffeyville refinery in Kansas and a 75,000-bpd Wynnewood facility in Oklahoma.
Separately, Icahn's firm said it will cut its dividend by half to 50 cents per share to fund the CVR deal as well as other investment opportunities.
It's the second time the company cut its payout since short-seller Hindenburg Research began shorting IEP's bonds last year.
(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
((Sourasis.Bose@thomsonreuters.com;))
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