CVR Energy Agrees to Buy Two Marathon Petroleum Refineries and Marketing Business for $4.2 Billion

CVR Energy, the oil refiner controlled by billionaire Carl Icahn, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Marathon Petroleum's St. Paul Park, Minnesota and Mandan, North Dakota refineries, along with Marathon's related marketing business, for approximately $4.2 billion plus inventory value. MPLX LP, Marathon's master limited partnership, will separately divest related midstream assets as part of the broader transaction. CVR described the deal as transformative, and it would move the company up from its current position as the seventh-largest publicly traded refiner in the United States.

The acquisition is expected to increase CVR Energy's total crude throughput capacity to approximately 384,000 barrels per day and generate around $70 million in annual run-rate synergies. CVR has secured $2.5 billion in committed secured debt financing to help fund the purchase. To raise additional capital, the company also launched a $750 million underwritten public stock offering on the same day, with CVR Energy offering $500 million of shares and IEP Energy Holding LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises and the controlling stockholder, offering $250 million of shares.

The announcement came on the same morning Marathon Petroleum reported third-quarter 2026 earnings that beat analyst estimates. Icahn controls roughly 71% of CVR's shares, with his son Brett Icahn serving on the company's board. CVR Energy shares were up approximately 1% in premarket trading following the confirmed deal, though the stock slid later in the session, with the equity dilution from the stock offering cited as a contributing factor. The deal was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal as worth more than $4 billion before the final figure of $4.2 billion was confirmed.