EXCO ends strategic review without deal

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HOUSTON (Global Markets) - A special committee of the EXCO Resources Inc (XCO.N) board said on Friday it ended a review of strategic alternatives for the U.S. oil and natural gas company because no deal was struck.

The committee's review included a proposal from EXCO Chief Executive Officer Douglas Miller and Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens to take the company private. Miller initially valued EXCO at $20.50 per share in a proposal made in November, but lowered the bid earlier this week.

"We conducted a thorough review of strategic alternatives available to the company," a committee statement said. "As that process did not result in a transaction the Special Committee determined is in the best interests of the company and all of its shareholders, the special committee has decided to terminate the process."

A representative of the Dallas company could not immediately be reached for comment on the committee's decision.

The bulk of EXCO's output is natural gas, a fuel with a price burdened by massive supply. Quarterly natural gas prices at benchmark Henry Hub have not averaged above $6 per thousand cubic feet in over 2 years.

EXCO has oil and natural gas assets in the Haynesville shale in East Texas and North Louisiana, and the Marcellus and Huron shales in Appalachia and the Permian Basin.

Miller's latest proposal -- restructured because he was having difficulty raising financing -- involved a mix of cash and equity.

Barclays Capital Inc and Evercore Partners served as financial advisers to the special committee.

Shares of EXCO were down 4.0 percent at $15.98 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.

(Reporting by Anna Driver; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Gerald E. McCormick)