By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 28 -- Marathon Oil Corp. agreed to pay an additional $700 million in a modified agreement with Ashland Inc. to acquire Ashland's 38% interest in Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC (MAP) to satisfy tax-related concerns.
The total value of the deal, which includes other complementary Ashland businesses, is $3.7 billion. Marathon of Houston announced plans to buy all interest in MAP from Ashland of Covington, Ky., last year (OGJ Online, Mar. 19, 2004).
Both parties said that best efforts will be made to close the deal by the scheduled closing date of June 30. The deal's termination date has been moved to Sept. 30 from June 30.
The revised terms call for an additional $600 million in Marathon stock distributable to Ashland shareholders and an additional $100 million in cash and accounts receivable from MAP.
