BUSINESS PEOPLE; Mesa Leader Gains, Despite a Rebuff

T. Boone Pickens Jr., founder and chairman of the Mesa Petroleum Company, was rebuffed last Friday -the second time in a year - in an attempt to acquire a major oil company, but nevertheless he has come out again with a handsome profit.

According to Mesa, it could show a profit of $44.9 million from the acquisition of the General American Oil Company of Texas by the Phillips Petroleum Company at an average of about $45 a share. The total acquisition amounts to more than $1 billion.

Mesa, which had already purchased 1.9 million shares of General American in 1976, offered last month to buy 13 million, or 50 percent, of General American's shares at $40 apiece. Mesa was tendered about 77.5 percent of the stock, although those shares can be withdrawn until tomorrow, and presumably will be, since holders can get more from Phillips.

Mesa said its $44.9 million profit would come with the probable elimination of $76.6 million of its subordinated debentures, carrying an 8 percent interest rate. The debentures were sold in 1980 and are convertible into General American shares owned by Mesa at a conversion rate of one share for every $40.44 of debt. With the Phillips offer prompting Mesa's debtholders to convert their debentures into General American shares, Mesa would be able to eliminate the debt and $6.5 million in interest, plus show a pretax gain of $10.7 million on some shares converted in 1982 and another $34.2 million in the first quarter of 1983 on the rest.

Joseph Culp, an analyst with the First Manhattan Company, reckons that Mesa would add about 10 cents a share to its annual earnings by eliminating interest on the debentures.

Mesa also cleared a profit - $45 million - when it sold the Cities Service Company stock that it had acquired in its unsuccessful attempt to take over that company. The stock was bought by the Occidental Petroleum Corporation, which acquired Cities Service in December for a total of almost $4 billion.

Analysts noted that Mr. Pickens also managed in his latest two takeover attempts to clean up Mesa's balance sheet even as he failed to complete an acquisition. They pointed out that prior to the Cities Service sale, the stock had been carried on Mesa's books at a substantial loss.

Mr. Pickens, a trim 54-year-old with the demeanor of a shy Texas country boy, said in an interview Friday that he was generally satisfied with the outcome of the General American deal, even though his priority had been ''to expand Mesa's reserves through its proposed acquisition of General American.'' As for the future, Mr. Pickens said, Mesa has to protect the level of its oil and gas reserves, ''possibly through the acquisition of other energy companies.'' He added, ''We're a very firm and tenacious group.''