Schlumberger Urges Shareholders to Reject TRC Corp's Offer

Schlumberger Ltd SLB has been informed of an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer by TRC Corporation to acquire about 2 million shares of the company's common stock.

This represents about 0.14% of Schlumberger's shares of common stock outstanding. TRC Capital's offer price of $65.63 per share is roughly 4.3% below the closing price of Schlumberger's common stock on Jun 16, 2017, the last trading day before the initiation of the offer.

However, Schlumberger does not approve the unprompted offer and is not related in any way with TRC Capital, the mini-tender offer or any offer documents.

The company has urged its stockholders to refuse this unsolicited offer. If they have already tendered shares they have been requested by the company for a withdrawal of the same by providing the written notice described in the TRC Capital mini-tender offer documents prior to the expiration of the offer, currently scheduled for 12:01 a.m., New York City time, on Wednesday, Jul 19, 2017. This is because TRC Capital's offer price is lesser than the current market price for Schlumberger's common stock

TRC Capital's mini-tender offer seeks under 5% of Schlumberger's outstanding common stock, thereby evading many disclosure requirements and procedural protections of the SEC. The SEC has warned investors that some bidders make mini-tender offers at below-market prices "hoping that they will catch investors off guard if the latter does not compare the offer price to the current market price."

Investor confidence on Schlumberger's stock is reflected in its price chart. Shares of the company declined 20.5% year to date, while the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas – Field Services industry registered a decline of 23% in the same time span.

Schlumberger currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the same space include SunCoke Energy, Inc. SXC, Enbridge Energy, L.P. EEP and Canadian Natural Resources Limited Ltd. CNQ. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

SunCoke Energy delivered a positive earnings surprise of 120% in the preceding quarter. The company beat estimates in two of the trailing quarters four with an average negative earnings surprise of 35.78%.

Enbridge Energy delivered a positive earnings surprise of 128.57% in the preceding quarter. The company beat estimates in three of the trailing quarters four with an average positive earnings surprise of 38.22%.

Canadian Natural Resources delivered a positive earnings surprise of 30.77% in the preceding quarter. It surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters with an average negative earnings surprise of 275.46%.

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