“If ever there was a time for Husky to consider going private, we believe it is now,” Pardy said in a research report published Monday.
Easy Task?
While the possibility of taking Husky private, which is about 69%-owned by Li, would make sense, Husky’s lower free cash flow level compared with its peers may not make this a simple task, according to Canoe Financial’s senior portfolio manager Rafi Tahmazian. He added that Asian mogul Li would have to fork out cash over the next few years to meet capital commitments should he decide to take the company private.
Husky is a part of the growing list of energy companies that analysts are pitching the idea of going private. Citigroup Inc. said last month that pipeline owner SemGroup Corp. should considering going private because it’s undervalued and may need a few years to address investors’ concerns. In late June, Seaport Global Securities LLC said shale driller Continental Resources Inc. could be a go-private candidate because its management feels like public markets aren’t rewarding “positive behavior in the E&P space.”
Husky’s integrated operations including refining makes the company more resilient to commodity price differential movements and Tahmazian doesn’t see the idea of Husky going private being specific to the company’s woes.
“It is the sign of the times that we see these suggestions,” he said.
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