(Reuters) – Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP) plans to increase its stake in U.S. oil refiner CVR Energy by more than 20%, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The company, a controlling shareholder of the oil refinery, plans to increase its stake in CVR to more than 81% by purchasing an additional 15 million shares, the report said, citing draft statements made by billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn and have his set plan to release on Friday.
The new offer will benefit shareholders from paying out at a premium, WSJ reported, citing Icahn from the draft statement.
To finance these and other transactions, Icahn said he is cutting his company’s dividend payout for the second time since short seller Hindenburg Research began shorting IEP’s bonds last year, the report said.
Icahn Enterprises and CVR did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Carl Icahn owns about 66% of CVR, which operates the 115,000 barrels per day (bpd) Coffeyville refinery in Kansas and the 75,000 bpd Wynnewood plant in Oklahoma.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
