Oil Company to Explore Strategic Alternatives (END)
Houston-based Endeavor International Corp. (NYSE: END) announced this morning that it has hired financial advisors to assist the firm in exploring a "broad range of strategic alternatives to further enhance shareholder value." The company's CEO said that the board, the management and the shareholders "continue to be disappointed by the dislocation between the underlying asset values" and the company's share price.
The CEO continued:
Our focus during the last two years has been to fully implement development projects in the North Sea and use the cash flows from these projects to repay debt and advance our strategy. In a challenging environment, we have accomplished new production and increased cash flows in 2012. However, delays and the high cost environment of the North Sea continue to impact our ability to execute effectively on our strategic plan.
In a separate announcement, Endeavor announced that it had suspended operations at one of its North Sea wells following a severe storm. The length of the drilling suspension is not indicated.
Endeavor is a small oil and gas exploration and production company with a market cap of around $226 million. The company's proved reserves totaled 22.7 million barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2011, and the firm could be a reasonable acquisition target at around $10 a barrel, or less if the share price continues to dive.
Shares are down more than 28% in the first half-hour of trading this morning to $3.55, a new 52-week low. The prior range was $4.66 to $13.48.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities, Corporate Governance, Oil & Gas, Shareholder Issues Tagged: END
