ATC Atlantic Coal

RNS No 3771u
ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY
3rd June 1998




ARCO Continues Focus on Oil and Gas Operations; Reduces Holdings in ARCO
Chemical Company to 50 Percent; Move Lowers Outstanding Debt

LOS ANGELES, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Consistent with its strategy to focus
on growth in its core oil and gas businesses, ARCO (NYSE: ARC) announced today
that it has reached agreement with ARCO Chemical Company (NYSE: RCM) to reduce
its 82.2 percent ownership of ARCO Chemical common stock to 50 percent.

The transaction is expected to be priced and close in mid to late July.
"While ARCO Chemical will continue to be an important part of the
worldwide chemical industry and a proven leader in its markets, the decision
to reduce our holdings puts us in a far better position to invest in and
strengthen our worldwide oil and gas operations, as well as continue to grow
our West Coast refining and marketing business," said ARCO Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Mike R. Bowlin.

Under the agreement, ARCO will first sell in a secondary offering the
amount of stock that, when combined with a repurchase by ARCO Chemical, will
result in a reduction of ARCO's holdings of ARCO Chemical stock to 50 percent.
At yesterday's closing price of $56.31 per share, this would total about 24
million shares worth $1.3 billion, assuming no exercise of the underwriters'
over-allotment.

ARCO Chemical Company will then purchase up to $850 million of its common
stock from ARCO.  If the offer were assumed to be completed at yesterday's
closing price, the purchase would total about 15 million shares.  ARCO owns
about 80 million of the 97 million currently outstanding shares of ARCO
Chemical stock.

If the 10 percent over-allotment option is exercised, the amount of the
stock that ARCO Chemical will buy from ARCO will be reduced to approximately
$600 million, assuming yesterday's closing price.  Shares sold to ARCO
Chemical will be sold at the same price they are offered to the public in the
secondary offering.

The transaction will result in ARCO deconsolidating its interest in ARCO
Chemical, which removes about $1 billion of ARCO Chemical debt from ARCO's
financial statements.  In addition, again assuming yesterday's closing price,
the after-tax proceeds of approximately $1.4 billion from the ARCO Chemical
transaction will be used to repay short-term borrowings to be incurred in
conjunction with ARCO's $2.6 billion cash tender offer for Union Texas
Petroleum common stock, as previously announced.

ARCO Chemical, headquartered in Newtown Square, Pa., was a wholly owned
subsidiary of Los Angeles-based ARCO until it went public in a 1987 offering.
ARCO Chemical is a leading worldwide manufacturer and marketer of propylene
oxide and derivatives and other intermediate chemicals.

A registration statement relating to these securities will be filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.  These securities may not be sold nor
may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement
becomes effective.  This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell
or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these
securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of
any such state.

Except for historical facts, the matters discussed in this press release
concerning the consummation of the public offering and stock repurchase and
the availability and use of after-tax proceeds from the public offering and
stock repurchase to repay short-term borrowing to be incurred in conjunction
with ARCO's cash tender offer for Union Texas Petroleum constitute forward-
looking statements.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties.  Actual results could differ materially based on
numerous factors, including the volatility and level of crude oil and natural
gas prices, the volumes and margins realized by the company for its refined
products and petrochemicals, the effects of political and regulatory
instability on the company's operations, changes in capital market conditions,
interest rates, and financial markets, and other risks detailed from time to
time in the company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended March 31, 1998.

For information, contact: Albert Greenstein (213) 486-3384.  For a menu of
ARCO news releases or to retrieve a specific release, visit our Web site at
http://www.arco.com on the Internet.


END

DISUBUAGQBGRGPW

Atlantic Coal (LSE:ATC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024

Atlantic Coal (LSE:ATC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024