Top properties should spur offers

Article Excerpt

SANDRIDGE ENERGY INC. $17 (New York symbol SD; Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 34.5 million; Market cap: $586.5 million; No dividends paid; Takeover Target Rating: Highest; www.sandridgeenergy.com) is an oil and gas exploration and production company with properties in both Colorado and Oklahoma. Under a new deal with billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who owns 13.6% of the company, SandRidge has agreed to expand the board of directors from seven to eight. Icahn will nominate five directors; the company, three. SandRidge has also hired RBC Capital Markets to help it conduct a strategic review of its operations. That could lead to the sale of certain operations or the entire company. Icahn’s end goal is for SandRidge to put itself up for sale. The activist has also said that he is willing to make an all-cash offer for the company. While SandRidge has yet to announce when the review will be completed, several of its properties, such as its North Park Basin operations in northern Colorado, should…