Phil Weiss, analyst at Argus Research, who maintains a sell on Chesapeake Energy shares for a variety of reasons, including its balance sheet and its complicated accounting practices, said that even he is a bit more comforted by this planned deal than other things Chesapeake has done. "One criticism has been that Chesapeake has to be in everything by buying, and so here they are really getting some of their assets sold. This is balance sheet improvement. It is a step in the right direction. You have to believe Icahn had some influence here," Weiss said.