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Thursday, January 15, 2015

Freeport-McMoRan in $137.5 million settlement over purchases, (NYSE: FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc agreed on Thursday to pay $137.5 million to resolve a lawsuit claiming executives and directors had conflicts of interest that caused the natural resources company to overpay significantly for two oil and gas companies in 2013.The accord resolves shareholder derivative litigation over Freeport's purchases of Plains Exploration & Production Co and McMoRan Exploration Co for roughly $9 billion.Shareholders led by a group of pension funds and union-owned Amalgamated Bank will receive settlement funds, net of unspecified legal fees and other costs, as a special dividend.Freeport also agreed to take steps to ensure director independence, including appointing a lead independent director, and limit "golden parachutes" to departing executives in future acquisitions.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is a United States-based natural resources company with a global portfolio of mineral assets, including copper, gold, and molybdenum, in addition to oil and gas resources. Shares of FCX fell by 2.19% or $-0.41/share to $18.33. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $17.85 and as high as $39.32. On average, 15804300 shares of FCX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 25344032.



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