Nov 8 (Reuters) - Icahn Enterprises ( IEP ), headed by

billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, said on Friday it has

submitted a proposal to boost its stake in refiner CVR Energy ( CVI )

to 81.3%.

The company, which already owns about 66.3% of CVR Energy ( CVI ),

said it wants to buy 15 million additional shares in the

Texas-based energy firm for $17.50 per share.

"CVR's shares are undervalued in the market and represent an

attractive investment opportunity," Icahn Enterprises ( IEP ) said in a

statement.

The news, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on

Thursday, sent CVR's shares up 4.5% at $17.26 in premarket

trading.

CVR Energy ( CVI ) operates a 115,000 barrel-per-day (bpd)

Coffeyville refinery in Kansas and a 75,000-bpd Wynnewood

facility in Oklahoma.

Separately, Icahn's firm said it will cut its dividend by

half to 50 cents per share to fund the CVR deal as well as other

investment opportunities.

It's the second time the company cut its payout since

short-seller Hindenburg Research began shorting IEP's bonds last

year.

(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini

Ganguli)