Rumor has it that IOL LT went to Houston to receive new set of instructions on what to do with their company. Quarry Park HQ is most likely being closed down and staff being moved to downtown (and hundreds of job layoffs in calgary).
Some people saying Exxon will take a full stake in IOL to enable this cut.
Unlikely XOM to buy out remaining shares. They have kept same ownership stake for like 120 years. More recently as IOL has been buying back shares like crazy, XOM has been selling theirs to keep ownership stake the same. Would be an odd thing to do if trying to control 100%.
Have heard of some relocations being suspended now. Sure sign of a big announcement.
@18a not true. You’re thinking of an SIB. NCIB cost differs based on share price. It’s a purchase of 5% of shares outstanding
20 year Exxon employee. I have seen this time and time again. Writing is on the wall for IOL.
@1yh it's all rumors, no one knows anything.
Just out of curiosity, is the headcount’s cut is going to impact field level workers or office level workers.
@pr it's the same cost overall , no matter what the shares are at lol
@pr Imperial's share price is moving higher because over 95% of the share float is held by institutions with wafer thin free float. SIB and NCIB are a big consideration. Although the company generates significant cash, there are no plans for additional capital spend to develop new projects. This is over shadowed by Canada not being a business friendly environment for international O&G companies, resulting in almost all foreign companies existing oil sands play during the last 10 years.
@b9 IMO buying back shares hand - over - fist with the NCIB according to recent filings . That is NOT the behavior you would expect from the MC if XOM were to buy the shares out, it is pumping the stock too much . Buying about $30m in stock back .. every day
@bk tell us you don’t know anything about IOL or EM without telling us
@OP Why downtown? Why not Edmonton like everywhere else we are forcing office workers into field offices or old refineries?
@bk IMO shares have outperformed XOM on any meaningful timescale . It’s not the bleeding limb by any means
Not sure where they were but law, HR, all downstream/upstream top leadership roles all meeting last week implies something significant happening especially when it was all private. XOM buyout w removed redundancy of duplicate roles across company /other ?
Not sure but we’ll see soon I imagine once united way wraps up, sometime in October?
@dy yes, I’ve heard Sep 30 Europe + Canada divestments.
@dx It’s rough seeing good people get treated like this. Hoping everyone lands on their feet quickly — sometimes change opens doors people didn’t expect.
Yeah, I feel for the folks caught in this. None of them asked for it, and it’s a tough position to be in. At the very least, they deserve respect while they go through it.
@ee many moons ago I had an Imperial Oil history webcat and there was something in there about the ownership stake being limited. Can't recall if it was something to due with it being related to S.O. antitrust issues or issues around US company purchasing Canadian company
@dw not sure that’s the case as there have been several IOC’s (ConocoPhillips, Chevron, CNOOC) that currently outright own or owned assets in Alberta
Good. Quality of IOL people has really declined past 10 years or so, esp management
It’s very sketchy information but hearing of a potential Canada-wide announcement the week of September 15th. Anyone hearing something similar?
@de The team is not being relocated. They are being laid off. The equipment will move sometime in the next two years but literally no information is available. Labs are being decommissioned, and equipment is all marked as keep or dispose - employees fall under the dispose category. Houston-based replacements are already being sent up to be trained by the people who are being laid off on their account. After 101 years of operation it's a dismal end to the department.
Unless I am mistaken XOM already owns as much of IOL as they can under Canadian law. There is a reason for the 69.7% ownership
When is the Sarnia R&D team supposed to be consolidated into Houston? I keep hearing whispers that management already picked the date. Anyone on the ground in Sarnia — have you been told to start “preparing for transition” yet, or is this just another smoke-screen rumor?
@bk Imperial has operating cash flows of ~$1.5B per quarter.
@b9 cash from where bro? Kearl bleeding money. Time to amputate the bleeding limb.
Cuts are absolutely coming. Buy-out? I’m not so sure. IOL share price is super high lately, expensive time to buy. I’m also not sure the Canadian government would go for it.
There's more money to be made there by exxonizing the workforce and firing at least half of the current employees. They are way fat on headcount
It makes sense. IOL has been a significant cash generator for the company the past 5 years. XOM wants the whole pie to buy production and to optimize the operation further. It’ll cost $20B or so to buy the outstanding shares.
Anyone paying attention can see the writing on the wall. Cuts always hit right after results are locked and leadership has cover with Wall Street. If you’re in Calgary, brace yourself — February/March is lining up to be brutal.
RE from Imperial here… bring it on!!!