Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas, a unit of U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), the biggest U.S.-based copper miner, yesterday filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.
The oil and gas unit said it intends to apply for a listing of its "Class A" common shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
Barclays is underwriting the IPO.
The company didn’t provide further information about the number of shares or pricing in its regulatory filing.
The IPO plans come roughly two years after Freeport-McMoRan acquired Plains Exploration & Production Company and McMoRan Exploration Co. in deals valued at a combined $9 billion. The acquisitions provided the Phoenix-based company with sizable assets in the then-booming U.S. oil- and natural-gas-production business.
Freeport said in April it was mulling an IPO for a minority stake in the wholly owned subsidiary to raise funds for project development.
Freeport chief financial officer Kathleen Quirk has earlier said the company will likely want to keep an 80 percent stake in the unit as that resulted in tax advantages for Freeport.
Following the IPO, Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas would have two classes of common shares: Class A stock that entitles its holder to one vote on all matters, and Class B stock that gives its holder five votes.
Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas intends to apply for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FMOG.
Freeport's stock rose 1.6 percent to $20.43 at 2:50 p.m., paring this year’s loss to 12 percent.