Carl Icahn is trying to raid Kerr-McGee. If successful, there is a great likelihood that OKC will lose the company, and many hundreds of Oklahomans will lose their jobs as a result.

I'm not a financier, but the Oklahoman had a breathless editorial about it yesterday and the State Chamber is sending out missives to its membership about it. Apparently this is a very real threat.

How devastating would that be to our city?

Any business loss would be devistating to our community. Not just Kerr-McGee

Their HQ is downtown, one of the largest, most prominant structures in the city. Their loss would be devestating to the downtown renaissance.

It would be loss of philanthropy and intellectual capital in the city, and downtown would see a loss for workers. For downtown, if someone could keep that uplighting on the tower, that would be nice and negate the effect. We would lose a Fortune 500 company. We would lose some of our oil and gas reputation, which could be devasting in the long run. But overall, in the short run, OKC would not be hurt too badly. Our economy is diverse, and large enough to handle a loss of 600+ jobs.

Icahn agrees to respond to lawsuit next week
Adam Wilmoth
Business Writer

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn and his associates agreed Friday to file their responses to Kerr-McGee's lawsuit by early next week.

The Oklahoma City-based energy company asked the judge late Thursday to expedite the process and require Icahn and his co-defendants to respond by Friday rather than allowing them the typical extended response time.

Icahn objected to Kerr-McGee's timeframe but said he could respond by Monday. U.S. District Judge Tim Leonard approved Icahn's request.

Kerr-McGee spokeswoman Debbie Schramm said the company asked for the process to proceed more quickly than usual in hopes that a decision would be reached before the company's May 10 shareholders meeting.

"We're pleased the judge is expediting the process," Schramm said.

In the lawsuit filed last week, Kerr-McGee alleges Icahn and his associates broke federal antitrust laws and violated the company's bylaws in their efforts to buy a more than 7.6 percent stake in the company and nominate their own directors to the company's board.

Kerr-McGee has asked the judge to bar Icahn and his associates from voting with shares they recently acquired and is seeking to have their nominations as directors nullified.

Icahn's attorneys have said Kerr-McGee's lawsuit is without substance.

"There is no merit to their claims, and we'll respond in court accordingly," said Ted Altman, a New York attorney representing Icahn and his associates.

Also on Friday, Kerr-McGee revealed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings that the company spent more than $85 million in payroll and benefits for its 600 Oklahoma employees in 2004.

The company also paid $10 million in state taxes and bought $59 million in Oklahoma goods and services during the year. Kerr-McGee said it also donated $1.98 million to Oklahoma educational, community and nonprofit organizations in the year.

Schramm said the company produced the fact sheet in response to elected officials and community leaders who have requested the information.

"We filed this material with the SEC in the context that the sheet could be seen as material to solicit proxies to vote for Kerr-McGee's directors," Schramm said. "The rule requires us to file all written soliciting materials."

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