- BHP Billiton (BHP +0.6%) has asked four investment banks to help it prepare for a sale or spinoff of its underperforming U.S. shale oil and gas unit, with a view to taking a decision in early 2018, Reuters reports.
- BHP has hired Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch, CItigroup and Goldman Sachs to assess options for the sale of assets, including whether they would be sold together or separately, and to research the potential spinoff of the unit into a new company, according to the report.
- BHP’s total petroleum division, valued at more than $20B, was the company's second biggest earner behind iron ore until 2014 but bad bets on U.S. shale and collapsing oil and gas prices have turned it into a major drag ever since.