BHP Billiton completes takeover of Petrohawk

BHP Billiton has completed its takeover of the US-based Petrohawk Energy Corporation through a short-form merger under Delaware law.

The merger is the final step of the acquisition process and follows the previously announced completion of the tender offer, BHP Billiton said yesterday.

BHP Billiton petroleum chief executive Michael Yeager said the Petrohawk takeover adds high-quality growth to the company.

"With the completion of this transaction, BHP Billiton Petroleum is on track to deliver compound annual growth in production volumes of 10 per cent for the remainder of the decade," he said.

"We are excited that Petrohawk's sizeable US workforce is joining [us] and we are ready to grow this business over the long-term."

BHP Billiton this week reported Australia's highest-ever corporate financial result, beating analyst expectations with a full-year net profit of US$23.6 billion ($28.4 billion).

The 85.9 per cent jump in net profit for the 12 months to June 30 was driven by strong commodity prices and comes in above analysts' forecasts of about US$22.2 billion.

Chief executive Marius Kloppers said at the time of the announcement that both demand and supply trends gave the miner long-term confidence in the outlook for commodities.

- AAP