Reported by Staff

Delta Petroleum Corp. said yesterday it has hired two outside advisers to help it explore “strategic alternatives,” including the possible sale of the company or its assets. The company’s major areas of operations are the Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast regions.

The energy company said in a statement yesterday it has retained Morgan Stanley and Evercore Partners to “advise the board of directors on strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value.”

“This will include, but not be limited to, exploring the sale of some or all of the company’s assets, partnerships and joint venture opportunities, and the sale of the entire company,” the statement read.

Delta also said it does not expect to make any further comment on the review of its options “until the board of directors has approved a specific transaction or otherwise determines that disclosure of significant developments is appropriate.”

Once trading at nearly $30 a share in late 2006, Delta stock has since fallen on hard times, closing last Friday at  only 92 cents a share.

The largest single shareholder of Delta is Financier Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. with 34 percent of its shares as of the end of July, according to Thomson Reuters (reported by MSN Money)

Late last year Tracinda told financial markets that it wouldn’t go forward with a previously announced tender offer for 14 million Delta shares, citing a steep decline in Delta’s share price and uncertain financial markets, but Tracinda said then that it continued to believe strongly in Delta’s fundamental business model.

Delta’s top management team has changed this year. Daniel Taylor, a Tracinda executive, was named chairman following the resignation of chairman and CEO Roger Parker last May, and the company has yet to name a replacement. John Wallace is president and COO.