LOS ANGELES, April 30, 1999 (PRIMEZONE) -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced today that Ronald Burkle, managing partner and majority owner of The Yucaipa Companies, a private investment firm, was elected to its board of directors by stockholders at Occidental's annual meeting.
Mr. Burkle, 46, founded Yucaipa in 1986 and since then has completed more than fifteen mergers and acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value of $30 billion. In October 1998, he engineered the merger of the bulk of Yucaipa's supermarket holdings with The Kroger Company, creating the largest supermarket chain in the nation. Upon completion of the merger, Mr. Burkle will be the largest shareholder of Kroger and will become chairman of Kroger's executive committee and a member of its board of directors.
Mr. Burkle also serves on the board of Kaufman & Broad Home Corporation and is involved in a variety of philanthropic and educational endeavors. -0-