Activist investor Carl Icahn, the largest shareholder in Oklahoma City’s SandRidge Energy as well as the CVR Refinery in Wynnewood now has his eyes set on troubled Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp.
Yes, this is the same company that became the focus of a major bribery scandal last year when three top executives were fired in an alleged $61 million bribery scheme to pass a bailout bill for nuclear and coal.
Icahn made known his intentions to buy a stake in FirstEnergy Corp stated the firm in a filing with the SEC reported Reuters.
Based on the filing, Icahn notified FirstEnergy in a Feb. 16 letter that he planned to acquire between $184 million and $920 million in the company. FirstEnergy is unsure just how much Icahn might have already purchased.
Icahn’s activism led to his control of the board of directors of Oklahoma’s SandRidge Energy in 2018, control that also resulted in the 2019 resignation of SandRidge CEO Paul McKinney.
Last year, SandRidge emptied its downtown office tower and sold it to the state of Oklahoma in a more than $35 million deal. As OK Energy Today reported, the company relocated its headquarters to a leased portion of a 7-story brick building in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Entertainment district.
The billionaire investor also has a controlling interest of CVR Energy, operator of the Wynnewood Refinery. On Thursday, CVR Energy had a nearly 5% gain when stocks jumped $1.05 to settle at $22.21.
The company is one of those that received temporary waivers from mandated biofuels orders and lost a battle with ethanol producers before the Denver federal appeals court. CVR took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court where arguments are to be heard sometime this year.