Following up on announced plans to search for strategic alternatives, Magnum Hunter Resources Inc. said Monday it has hired Deutsche Bank Securities and Merrill Lynch & Co. as financial advisers. Founding CEO Gary Evans announced his retirement last week, and said the next management team would take the company to a new level (see Daily GPI, Oct. 8).

Evans said in a conference call that the company is not locked into one particular plan or transaction. The ultimate fate of the company could be in a “different form than an outright sale.” Evans, who will retire in April 2005 but continue to hold a position on the board, said he had been considering alternatives for the company for more than a year to enhance shareholder value.

Box was elected interim chairman last week when Evans announced his retirement. Box, 66, a board member and former president of Oryx Energy, is leading a special board committee to investigate the company’s future plans.

©Copyright 2004 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.