By Investing.com– Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP), led by the eponymous activist investor, plans to slash its dividend by half to fund a substantial increase in its stake in CVR Energy Inc (NYSE:CVI), the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Icahn Enterprises is the controlling shareholder in CVR with a 66% stake, and plans to boost its holdings in the firm to more than 81% by buying up to 15 million additional shares, the WSJ report said, citing drafts of a statement Icahn plans to release on Friday.
Icahn enterprises is now expected to pay a quarterly dividend of 50 cents, its second major dividend cut in recent years. The firm had last year slashed its dividend in half after a short seller report from Hindenburg Research alleged the firm was overvalued, had inflated its asset prices and was paying an unsustainable dividend.
Carl Icahn had denied the allegations in the report.
Icahn Enterprises is set to report its quarterly earnings on Friday morning.