Freeport-McMoRan (FCX +1.11%) announced that it would be spending $9 billion to acquire Plains Exploration & Production (NYSE: PXP), along with McMoRan Exploration (NYSE: MMR), last December. Neither deal has closed, and the subsequent drop in Freeport's stock price has left many Plains investors wondering if the original deal is sweet enough.
A vote on Monday will decide the near-term fate of these two companies. It is unlikely that Freeport will boost its offer, but it seems that Plains would need to be part of the deal for it to make sense to Freeport. McMoRan Exploration is the more risky of the two due to the unclear future of its Davy Jones well in the Gulf of Mexico. The deal makes sense from a diversification standpoint, but is it worth added capital?
