Findlay's Marathon spinoff to occur by end of June

Marathon's office on South Main Street in Findlay will become the new firm's headquarters.

HOUSTON -- The spinoff of Findlay-based Marathon Petroleum Corp. was approved Wednesday by Marathon Oil Corp.

The separation of the refining business is to occur by June 30. Marathon’s office on South Main Street in Findlay, now a unit of Marathon Oil, will become the new firm’s headquarters, creating northwest Ohio’s largest corporation.

Shareholders of Marathon Oil as of June 27 will receive one share of the Findlay company for every two shares of Marathon Oil. The shares will be distributed June 30. The new stock is to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MPC.”

Marathon Petroleum, which already has 1,600 employees in northwest Ohio and 26,000 nationally, generated $62.5 billion in revenue last year and is expected to have $1.43 billion in cash.

The split-off of the northwest Ohio business is being done to try to enhance the stock of both firms, a benefit to shareholders.

The Findlay business is expected to become the fifth-largest independent oil refiner in the United States, with capacity to process 1.1 million barrels of crude daily.

It will keep control of six refineries, Marathon and Speedway gas stations, pipeline system, and truck and river barge operations.

The refineries are in Detroit and Canton, Ohio, as well as in Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas. It has 5,100 Marathon gas stations in 18 states, mostly in the Midwest; 1,350 Speedway stations in seven states; 21 gas and distillate wholesale operations and 12 supply operations; 63 oil terminals and 33 asphalt plants; 9,700 miles of pipeline capable of transporting 100 million gallons of crude, and a transportation system that comprises 1,760 rail cars, 14 waterway tow boats, 176 barges, and 122 tanker trucks.

Marathon Oil, which announced the planned spinoff in January, will remain in Houston.

Marathon was founded in 1887 in northwest Ohio and moved to Findlay in 1905. It was based there until 1982 when it was acquired by U.S. Steel Corp. of Pittsburgh, which then split off the oil business in 2001 and Houston became the headquarters.