Kerr McGee Sold!

[zuluwarrior0760]

I see a headline in our future.....
Something about consolidation, efficiency,
and a move to Houston...

and we were concerned about them fixing
their fountain.....

http://www.newsok.com/article/187693...late=home/main

[Pete]

Ugh.

This can't be good.

[escan]

They only have about 100 pp left who actually work for KM.

[autoMATTic]

Well, Tom Ward did just move Riata Energy from Amarillo to OKC. Although it is a tiny business in comparison, we all know how capable he is at growing a business (he was one of the founders of Chesapeake for those of you from outter space). Maybe in 5 or 10 years he will need a vacant building in downtown.

The glass is half full...

The glass is half full...

The glass is half full...

Oh well, at least Cheesecake Factory believes in us.

[Patrick]

I guess this is the end of KerrMcGee. This is horrible.

Maybe Devon will be interested in buying KerrMcGee's properties. They're currently leasing a lot of space.

[floater]

We knew it was going to happen eventually. Well, Devon and Chesapeake have occupied the corporate citizenship mantle for awhile now anyway.

Makes me glad Mayor Cornett has identified economic diversification away from energy as a priority. We need more driver industries besides oil and gas.

[BDP]

I agree, floater. You don't want all your eggs in one basket. We are devloping some other industries, but it stills seems our flagship companies are all in the energy sector.

Reminds me of a line from Silkwood when they were discussing going to OKC to take on the company and her husband responds: "Have you ever been downtown? They've got two streets, one is named Kerr and the other is named McGee".

This isn't as bad a blow on employment as it is on corporate community support. Maybe it will be a good reminder of how risky it is to base the bulk of your economy on world commodities.

[John]

I wonder where that puts the plans for the condos/lofts in the KerrMcGee comples...

[metro]

The Braniff Towers are still going full speed ahead. I know the people working behind the scenes. I'm guessing the whole reason for doing the residential project was to ease the pain of losing Kerr McGee by providing much needed urban housing.

[floater]

Reminds me of a line from Silkwood when they were discussing going to OKC to take on the company and her husband responds: "Have you ever been downtown? They've got two streets, one is named Kerr and the other is named McGee".

Lol

It's good to know the condo projects are still on.

[Pete]

The CEO of Anadarko doesn't sound like he's too concerned about the OKC employees... Can you imagine reading these calous quotes if you worked there?



Oklahoma losing landmark corporate headquarters

By Don Mecoy
The Oklahoman

Kerr-McGee Corp.’s acquisition by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. means Oklahoma City is losing one of its landmark corporate headquarters, Anadarko’s chief executive officer said today.


“When (Kerr-McGee Chairman) Luke Corbett struck this transaction with Anadarko, he fully understood, as did we, that the corporate offices were at The Woodlands at Houston,” said Jim Hackett, Anadarko chief executive officer, chairman and president. “I don’t think it should be anybody’s expectation that there are going to be two headquarters in this company.”

Hackett said he plans to meet with Kerr-McGee’s Oklahoma City employees next week, but he said some positions will be eliminated to avoid duplication.

“That won’t make us efficient, won’t serve our shareholders,” Hackett said during a conference call with reporters. “So we’ve got to look very closely at the Oklahoma City location, which is the most at risk here of what kind of people we can utilize at other office locations and what their skill sets are. I don’t personally know what those skill sets are.”

The tight labor pool in the energy industry was part of the reason Anadarko paid a premium to acquire Kerr-McGee, and the company wants to retain many of those desirable workers, Hackett said. But it’s not clear yet how much of Kerr-McGee’s local work force falls into that category, he said.

[jbrown84]

Wow, I had no idea they had only 190 employees left in OKC. Is that whole tower just sitting empty except for a couple floors?

Too bad Devon couldn't buy them...

[mranderson]

This bites big time. I hate it when corporations buy other corporations and slap the faces of the citizens of the city inwhich the purchased corporation was founded. Then, these purchasers slap the little guy across the room by taking away their jobs. All this while the executives wallow in their money, corporate jet, 30 room mansion that is so big the kids have their own zip code, etc.

If you are buying a corporation, keep the workers and keep it in the city inwhich it was founded. Try cutting back on executive perks for a change.

[OklaCity_75]

I have seen this one coming for a while.

Every oil company is moving to Houston. If was not for the fact they were bought out, they would have moved down there eventually.

We are just lucky to have Devon and Chesapeake. We all know they will be here for years to come. They are both focused more on natural gas instead of crude oil.

Maybe Devon will move into Kerr McGee Tower. Who knows we maybe appealing to another company looking for new corporate headquarters.

[JOHNINSOKC]

It's a good thing that OKC is in good shape economically right now. What hurts the most is that our city just recently went from 3 to 4 Fortune 500 companies(Devon, Kerr-McGee, OG&E, and now Chesapeake) It looks like we are back down to three now. At least we just acquired a new corporate headquarters in Riata Energy. Mick Cornett keeps hinting that there are really good times ahead in the job market. I think there are a ton of big things going on behind the scenes that will be announced soon. Does anyone remember the rumor about US Airways(America West)planning a central hub for OKC per Mr Andersen??? There is absolutely no reason for this city not to be a major player in corporate relocation; just ask the NBA Hornets what kind of market this is.....

[Luke]

I assume Kerr-McGee Tower is Class "A" office space. Isn't downtown in need of Class "A" space? This may open up some opportunities for some big companies... Who know?

[ibda12u]

Ya know this is just a small side note, but When Devon Energy purchased Ocean Energy back in 2003 (Jim Hackett was the CEO of Ocean Energy), and he had to mvoe to OKC. Jim was a fairly nice guy, kinda demanding (my group provided tech support for him) but overall not to bad. I don't think he was happy here in OKC, and in having to be forced to leave Tx, so I guess it should have been no suprise that he quickly left Devon and joined Anadarko, and soon after became the CEO. I guess he was itching to get back to Texas. Anyways that's just a sidenote. Also I don't think Devon is looking to buy the Kerr McGee property, because they are building their training and Conference facility next to Will Rogers Airport. So between Devon Tower, Rented Floors at the Chase Tower, a couple floors at Corporate Tower, and a couple floors and FNC, and a location at 3rd and Broadway, I don't think they will be looking for any new buildings.

[Karried]

What does this do to the corporate sponsorship for the Hornets?

Another nail in the coffin for the NBA hopes in OK or no?

[BDP]

We all know they will be here for years to come.

No one knows that. Maybe that's their intention, but market factors will ultimately determine that, just like it did for the very loyal Kerr McGee. Oklahoma City's major corporate structure is very fragile and is in a volatile industry. These companies are carrying a lot of debt. Fortunately, they can service that debt right now with a favorable market, but a unfavorable market shift or political crisis and you could see these companies unloading within weeks.

That's just how it goes in the energy sector. We've been threw it before. There is only one way to protect the city, and that's diversification. Same as when you manage your own portfolio.

[Pete]

The Anadarko CEO keeps repeating "we work for the shareholders" which always means they will be making purely profit-minded decisions without regard to the employees.

Someone needs to remind him that employees are the ones that do the real work for the shareholders and if he really wanted to make an impact on the bottom line, he'd take a salary cut and reduce his top management.

[Patrick]

Remember that KerrMcGee only hired 200 employees here. They were here only in name and sponsorship. This won't be a big blow. Their building was already pretty empty anyhow.

I'll be curious to see what happens with their chemical spin off company, which is now indepedent and not part of this buy out. I'd like to see them adopt the KerrMcGee name, stay in KerrMcGee tower, and grow.

[sweetdaisy]

The Anadarko CEO keeps repeating "we work for the shareholders" which always means they will be making purely profit-minded decisions without regard to the employees.

Someone needs to remind him that employees are the ones that do the real work for the shareholders and if he really wanted to make an impact on the bottom line, he'd take a salary cut and reduce his top management.

While it always stinks for your company to be purchased and to be laid off (with a nice severance package, I'm sure), those folks won't be unemployed for long. Chesapeake, Devon, Enogex, and many other companies in the industry are always looking for good people with industry experience. These folks will be snapped up in no time.

[jbrown84]

What does this do to the corporate sponsorship for the Hornets?

Another nail in the coffin for the NBA hopes in OK or no?

I bet Tom Ward will get Riata Energy in there to replace Kerr-McGee.

[Luke]

I know OG&E is more of a state corporation, but they could kick in corporate support fairly easily I would assume, huh? And what about Sonic?

[Karried]

Yeah, no doubt with some of the bills I paid last winter! lol