First, yes "Denbury" shareholders are getting the best deal. Our stock had nowhere to go but down (too much uncertainty and capital needed for the CCUS business model for Denbury to be successful), so now was an excellent time for Denbury to realize that value for the shareholders. XOM got what they wanted - our pipeline infrastructure - and make no mistake, that's all they want in the long run. The only entity who gets screwed and taken to the woodshed is us--the Denbury employees. I hate that all the Execs will get big paydays, it eats at my core, but he-l, if we were in their shoes, we do the same. XOM’s culture is 100 times worse than Denbury’s culture, and Denbury's culture had work to be done to improve. I know people at XOM, and what we have is the Ritz-Carlton compared to XOM's Bates Motel--in terms of culture and morale.
Now folks, here is what will happen based on my insight and having been involved in something similar.
- All LTIs will vest on closing for Denbury employees who are lucky enough to have active LTIs --This is probably the only good news for this whole situation
- All executives are done at Denbury and off into the sunset once the deal closes---leaving us to fend for ourselves
- XOM will do EVERYTHING they can to not pay severances to people ....They are 100% about dollars and cents. They would much rather have folks work and quit without a 'Good Reason' - since then, they won't have to pay anything. Someone who quits for a 'Good Reason' (as defined in the change of control docs) within the first two years of closing does get paid a severance, but if someone quits for not a 'Good Reason' in the first two years--you get nothing (their goal)! Yes, XOM does need a lot of us for a period of time to keep things running while they complete the integration process (1-2 years), but in the long run, they are already over staffed and don't need the vast majority of us.
'Good Reasons' that would allow you to quit and get a severance would be.
- A material change/drop in your responsibilities and authority when working with Exxon compared to your role at Denbury
- Offer you less base pay for coming on board with XOM (total pay will likely be lower at XOM since no bonus there)
- A material change in geographic location - another reason why we won't be asked to leave Plano for at least 2 years -- after the two-year mark, they can say your job is in Houston, and you have no choice - take it, or you are done without severance
- A material drop in the responsibilities of your supervisor--- I don't think this will impact most of us, maybe some members of senior management
So in a nutshell, most of us won't be open to severance, if we keep the same jobs for 2 years (at a drastically lower total comp since XOM has ZERO bonus for the rank-and-file peeps). Again, XOM’s goal is to have people slowly quit over that 2-year period without ‘Good Reason’, this way you don’t get severance.
- A select few people at Denbury XOM will deem as operational critical, and really want to make sure they do not walk out the door at closing, so will likely get some retention bonuses.
There you go. Good luck to us all; we are in for a wild ride the next 6-12 months!