Buried in the classifieds of Friday's Journal, on page B4, sits a court notice. It's addressed to anyone who bought Anadarko Petroleum common stock between Feb. 20, 2015 and May 2, 2017. There's $114.5 million in cash on the table. Claims are due Jan. 21, 2027. If that's you, or it was your late parent, keep reading.
The case is a securities class action in federal court in Houston, the Southern District of Texas. The lead plaintiffs are the Norfolk Pension Fund, through Norfolk County Council, and the Iron Workers Local #580 Joint Funds. They and the defendants, Anadarko and four named individuals, agreed to settle for $114.5 million in cash. The settlement papers are dated Sept. 28, 2026. A hearing on Jan. 14, 2027 at 10 a.m., before Judge Charles R. Eskridge III, decides whether the deal is fair. It also decides the lawyers' fees, which they may ask to run up to 30% of the fund, plus expenses. The court can move the hearing, so the notice says to check the website first.
Here's how a shareholder gets paid. You file a Proof of Claim form. By mail, it must be postmarked by Jan. 21, 2027. Online, it must be in by the same day. The notice is blunt about missing it. A late claim can be rejected, and then you get nothing from the fund. Unless you opted out, you're still bound by the settlement. The forms, the full notice and the settlement terms are on the court-listed website, www.AnadarkoSecuritiesSettlement.com. You can also write to the claims administrator, Verita Global. Don't send questions to the court, its clerk or the company. Anyone who wants out of the class must ask by Dec. 24, 2026. Objections are due the same day.
Why this is in a money paper
Nobody carries a 2016 stock trade around in their head. A brokerage account does. Anadarko was a big energy name in those years, but you won't find it on a statement today. Occidental Petroleum bought the company in 2019. So search old records for the name or its old ticker, APC. Owning Occidental now doesn't put you in this class. The class is people who bought Anadarko inside the window. If you only owned it through a mutual fund, the fund generally files, not you. Anadarko isn't in any of our model books. This piece isn't about the stock. It's about a form that's free to file and a firm date.
Our read
Insurance and Consumer Protection, M11. Class-action settlements are money investors forget. The notice runs in the back pages, the website waits, and many people who qualify never file. The payout per share is often small. Nobody knows the amount until the court approves the plan and the claims are counted. The notice doesn't promise anyone a number, and neither do we. What we know is that the form costs nothing but an evening. A claim you don't file is money that goes to the people who did.
Here's the check this week. Look through every brokerage account you held between 2015 and 2017. Include old IRAs and any account you manage for a parent who has passed. Search the history for Anadarko or APC, and look for buys between Feb. 20, 2015 and May 2, 2017. Online history may not reach back that far, so ask the broker for the old statements if you need them. Claim forms like this one usually ask for proof of the trades. Then file on the court-listed site by Jan. 21, 2027. You keep old statements for exactly this kind of day. Bring any eligible trade to your next review and we'll walk the form with you.