DENVER, March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- John M. Fox,
beneficial owner of 1,427,826 common units of MPLX LP and 62,583
shares of Marathon Petroleum Company, today released the following
open letter to the board of directors of Marathon Petroleum
Corporation (MPC) and MPLX LP (MPLX) outlining his support of
management. Mr. Fox believes that recent decisions to appoint
Michael Hennigan as CEO of MPC,
maintain the current structure and direction of MPLX, and to
downsize capex in line with current industry conditions are keys to
generating long-term MPC and MPLX value for shareholders, and that
the board of directors is working diligently to ensure all of the
above are delivered.
Please see disclosures at the end of this release.
The full text of the letter follows:
March 30, 2020
Board of Directors
Marathon Petroleum Corporation
539 S Main St
FINDLAY, OH 45840-3229
Attention:
To the Board of Directors of Marathon Petroleum Corporation:
I am writing to express my support …
As you know I am the Founder and a former Chairman, Chief
Executive Officer and director of MarkWest Energy GP, L.L.C.
As of this date, through the merger of MPLX and MarkWest on
December 4, 2015, and from follow-on
investment, I am the beneficial owner of 1,427,826 common units of
MPLX LP and 62,583 shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.
In the past I have had some differences with Marathon, but with
Gary Heminger's leadership in
guiding the company through the Andeavor acquisition and the
board's subsequent decision to maintain the MPLX LP structure and
to appoint Michael J. Hennigan as
the new CEO, Marathon is now positioned for a very robust
future. Gary announced in the annual report that the cost
synergies from the Andeavor acquisition are ahead of schedule and
now amount to $1.4 billion from the
initially estimated $1 billion.
The spin-off of Speedway's impressive 4,000 convenience store
network across the country by the end 2020 is an added
bonus.
After careful consideration, the special committee of the board
concluded that Marathon's 63% interest in MPLX is best served by
keeping the MPLX MLP structure the same. MPLX provides MPC
with a steady and growing distribution stream of $1.8 billion per year and helps immensely in
mitigating the cyclical nature of the refining business. It
is my judgement that as investors learn more about the powerful
complementary combination of Marathon and Andeavor, and begin to
recognize the underlying value of the growth engine at MPLX, that
both MPC and MPLX holders will be well rewarded.
Finally, Michael Hennigan is an
excellent choice as the CEO to lead both MPC and MPLX into the
future. Not only does he have extensive experience in the
refining business from his thirty years of operational, financial
planning, and marketing experience at Sunoco Inc., but he has had
extensive midstream experience leading MPLX as CEO since
2017. Michael started out as a young engineer at Sunoco's
Marcus Hook refinery in 1981 and
after a distinguished career and increasing responsibility was
named chief executive officer of Sunoco Logistics in 2012.
The COVID-19 virus has been a setback for all of us, but as we
emerge from this crisis, I think the financial strength and
commitment to operational excellence at MPC and MPLX will lead to
attractive shareholder returns. As a shareholder of MPC
and a unitholder of MPLX LP, I strongly support the Board's recent
decisions for the future of both companies.
Sincerely,
John Fox
About John M. Fox
John Fox is the founder, former
CEO, and Chairman of MarkWest Energy GP, L.L.C. ("MarkWest GP"),
the general partner of MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. ("MarkWest"),
and beneficial owner of 1,427,826 MPLX common units, and
62,583 shares of Marathon Petroleum Company, through its merger
with MarkWest in 2015 and from follow-on investments.
Disclosure:
John Fox is providing this
material for general informational purposes only. None of the
information provided herein is intended to be relied upon as
investment advice. The opinions expressed in this letter are those
of Mr. Fox as of March 30, 2020 and
are subject to change at any time due to changes in market,
economic conditions, or new public information. These opinions are
Mr. Fox's alone, and do not reflect the opinions of any other
member of the Fox family. The information and opinions
contained in this material are derived from proprietary and
non-proprietary sources deemed by Mr. Fox to be reliable and are
not necessarily all-inclusive. Mr. Fox does not guarantee the
accuracy or completeness of this information. There is no guarantee
that any forecasts made by any party will come to pass. Reliance
upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the
reader.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-fox-founder-former-chairman-and-ceo-of-markwest-energy-partners-issues-open-letter-to-the-board-of-directors-of-marathon-petroleum-corporation-supporting-recent-decisions-and-the-appointment-of-michael-hennigan-as-ceo-301032202.html
SOURCE John M. Fox