BP’s Sharp Stock Drop Prompts Takeover Rumors as Gulf Oil Spill Disaster Spirals Out of Control

BP PLC's (NYSE ADR: BP ) share price has plunged by more than one-third, as the company has struggled to contain the Gulf oil spill . Now, the company is being rumored as a takeover target as its stock has yet to find a floor. BP shares have tumbled 36% since the company's leased drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. The company has lost a third of its market value - $75 billion - stirring rumors that there could be acquisition interest. About $17 billion in losses came on Tuesday alone when the stock plunged 15%. " There is a 10% to 20% chance of BP being taken over, " Gudmund Halle Isfeldt, an analyst at DnB NOR ASA, told Bloomberg News . "The only real candidate, in size and with similar operations globally, would be Royal Dutch Shell [PLC (NYSE ADR: RDS.A , RDS.B )]." BP's drastic market value loss could make it cheap enough to attract buyers, but some analysts say the total cost and implications of the spill are too vague to justify a commitment.