First-round bids for BHP Billiton Group's U.S. shale business from oil majors, including BP PLC and Chevron Corp., valued the unit at between US$7 billion and US$9 billion, Bloomberg News reported June 5, citing people familiar with the matter.
Aside from BP and Chevron, the report noted that a Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Blackstone Group LP consortium submitted a bid for the entire unit, while private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC submitted separate bids for individual assets.
The mining major prefers to sell the unit to a single party and expects to invite second-round bids as early as July. However, it could net as much as US$13 billion if it sells the assets piecemeal, the sources said.
BHP has put up for sale 800,000 net acres in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Fayetteville shales. The sale follows months of pressure from activist shareholder Elliott Management Corp. for sweeping changes in BHP, including the spinoff of its U.S. shale assets.
Transactions for the assets could be announced by the end of the year, but the mining heavyweight is considering other options for the assets, including an IPO or a demerger.
