HOUSTON (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE:OXY) Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub on Friday defended the company's deal with Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) Inc's Warren Buffett that paved the way to winning its $38 billion (29.20 billion pounds) acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE:APC).
Hollub told shareholders at the company's annual meeting that with the sale of preferred shares, "timing was critical." Occidental investors criticized the investment as overly expensive because of its 8 percent annual dividend.