Halliburton - Minority stake in KBR will be sold

[kpete]

Minority Stake in KBR Will Be Sold
Halliburton to Offer IPO for 20 Percent Of Contract Unit

By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 28, 2006; Page D01

After considering a sale, Halliburton Co. said yesterday that it plans to spin off a minority stake in its subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root Inc., the largest American contractor in Iraq.

"We believe the IPO market in general and the public market for engineering and construction companies in particular is very attractive," David J. Lesar, Halliburton's chairman, president and chief executive, said in a conference call with analysts.


The deal could be worth billions for Halliburton investors. It also could give the oil-services company some distance from the controversy that has surrounded KBR for nearly three years, including accusations that it received preferential treatment because Vice President Cheney once served as Halliburton's president and that it overbilled the military for work in Iraq.

The company said in September 2004 that it planned to sell or spin off its construction and engineering arm. Under the plan announced yesterday, Houston-based Halliburton said it would sell a 20 percent interest in KBR, which reported $10 billion in revenue last year, half of it in Iraq. Halliburton would likely sell its remaining shares after the IPO, industry analysts said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701628.html

[applegrove]

1. Who got all the asbestos lawsuits in the break up? IPO? Don't you

think it is a little unfair to dump bad decisions on the market?