11-18-2013, 11:07 AM
Morgan Stanley stated what the next argument will be:
"A monetizing transaction would mark a transformation of the IOC story and should decisively rule on key debates surrounding a controversial story, driving a re-rating of IOC shares. Over the last 7+ years, the Street debate on IOC has focused on: (1) the credibility of IOC’s PNG resource; (2) the ability of IOC’s chosen partner(s) to execute on LNG monetization; (3) whether the PNG government would determine IOC violated its licenses and take IOC’s upstream assets; (4) ability of IOC to complete an upstream sell-down, a process that had begun an earlier iteration in 2009; and (5) how to value IOC’s “stranded gas” assets. Following a deal, we believe the key investor debate would switch to valuation. The debates will normalize."
So that's what we should expect, but it's a much less defendable "debate"; a deal takes the major unknowns and air out of the hard-core short arguments and they know it. After deals IOC will be looked at more like most stocks; is the pps getting ahead of valuation. Much simpler and more logical to deal with.