Icahn plans raising stake in oil refiner CVR, WSJ reports

(Reuters) – Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP) plans to raise its stake in U.S. oil refiner CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) by more than 20%, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The company, a controlling shareholder of the oil refiner, plans to raise its stake in CVR to more than 81% by buying an additional 15 million shares, the report said, citing draft statements that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn and his firm plan to release on Friday.

The new offer will benefit stockholders from cashing out at a premium, WSJ reported, quoting Icahn from the draft statement.

To fund this and other transactions, Icahn said he is cutting his firm’s dividend payout for the second time since short-seller Hindenburg Research began shorting IEP’s bonds last year, the report added.

Icahn Enterprises and CVR did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Carl Icahn owns about 66% of CVR, which operates the 115,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Coffeyville refinery in Kansas and the 75,000-bpd Wynnewood facility in Oklahoma.