Range Resources Corp., a Fort Worth, Texas, natural-gas producer, has announced that it has agreed to buy rival energy company Memorial Resource Development Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at $3.3 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reports Range will absorb the smaller driller, adding its north Louisiana operations to existing acreage and wells across Pennsylvania, Texas and Oklahoma.
The agreement also calls for Range to take on $1.1 billion in debt owed by Memorial. Once it closes, the transaction will rank as one of just a handful of deals executed between sizable independent U.S. energy producers during the oil-and-gas downturn.
When Whiting Petroleum Corp. announced its acquisition of Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. in mid-2014, the deal was valued at $3.8 billion, plus $2.2 billion in debt. Noble Energy Inc.’s acquisition of Rosetta Resources Inc., announced a year ago, was valued at $2.1 billion, plus $1.8 billion in debt.
Jeff Ventura, chief executive of Range, says integrating Houston-based Memorial’s assets will give Range a strategic position on the East and Gulf coasts, and more exposure to natural gas demand. Gas accounted for 71% of the Range’s production last year, while oil and other liquids accounted for 29%, company filings show.
Memorial has assets in Lincoln Parish.
Read the full story (subscription may be required).Â
