Toms Capital Urges Devon Energy to Sell Itself, Signaling Heating Up Oil and Gas Consolidation
Baca dalam 60 detik
- Toms Capital Management resmi mengirim surat kepada Devon Energy agar menempuh opsi strategis, termasuk menjual seluruh perusahaan.
- Dana lindung nilai itu menilai portofolio Devon pasca-merger Coterra terlalu rumit dan membuat valuasi tertinggal dari pesaing.
- Langkah ini bisa memicu gelombang konsolidasi baru di sektor migas AS, dengan implikasi ke harga minyak dan saham energi global.
Activist hedge fund Toms Capital Management sent a letter to Devon Energy Corp. earlier this month, urging the Houston-based oil and gas company to review strategic options, including selling the entire company. The move marks fresh pressure on Devon's management, which had already been criticized by another investor, Kimmeridge, for being slow to streamline its asset portfolio.
In the letter seen by CNBC, Toms claims it is now one of Devon's five largest shareholders. That position jumped from outside the top ten as of the end of June. Toms manages assets slightly above US$4 billion and was previously known for actively pressuring management at Kenvue, Kellanova, and Denbury.
The core of Toms' objection lies in Devon's merger with Coterra Energy, completed last May. The combination expanded Devon's footprint in the Delaware Basin—the main sub-basin of the Permian in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico—while also combining assets in the Marcellus, Eagle Ford, and Powder River. However, according to Toms, the bloated portfolio complexity has instead left Devon's valuation discounted by at least one multiple point compared with peers. Devon shares currently trade at around 4.5 times estimated 2027 EBITDA.
In meetings before the letter was sent, Toms had pushed a similar strategy. Now the fund is urging Devon to sell itself. Its argument: a potential strategic buyer could take over the entire company and then divest unwanted assets, shifting the execution risk of a sale from Devon's shareholders to the buyer.
"The combination of properties brings an undue level of complexity and contributes to what we view as a valuation discount to peers of at least one multiple point," the Toms letter said, as quoted by CNBC.
Toms' campaign has the support of Alex Spiro, a prominent litigator with a long courtroom track record who has also advised Elon Musk. Both Spiro and Toms declined to comment further beyond the letter. Devon has not responded to requests for comment, while its advisers also remained silent.
Whether Toms succeeds in pushing Devon to the sale table is far from certain. Major oil companies may be interested in Devon's core position in the Delaware Basin, but deal negotiations currently risk stalling due to oil price volatility. Still, Devon shares rose about 3% in Wednesday trading and have gained more than 31% over 2026.
For Indonesian investors, this dynamic is not merely a US corporate event. Consolidation in the US oil and gas sector often serves as a barometer for global oil price sentiment, which in turn affects the state budget through the ICP assumption, the performance of energy issuers on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, and domestic energy costs. If Devon is ultimately acquired, a similar wave of consolidation could push national oil and gas companies such as Pertamina to accelerate their portfolio strategies, especially amid pressure from the energy transition.
The question is whether this activist pressure will end in a large-scale sale that redraws the map of the US oil and gas industry, or instead become a signal that energy sector valuations are still too cheap to ignore. Over the next few months, Devon's response and buyer interest will determine the direction of the next round of consolidation.
