據油價網 5月19日報道，Centennial Resource Development和Colgate Energy Partners III兩家有限責任公司周四宣布，兩家公司已同意以70億美元的對等價格合并，在二疊紀的特拉華盆地創建最大的純業務勘探和生產公司。

合并后的公司將成為特拉華盆地最大的純勘探和生產公司，擁有約18萬英畝凈租賃土地，4萬英畝凈采油土地，目前總產量約為13.5萬桶油當量/天。

70億美元的合并相當于對Colgate的估值約為39億美元，其中包括2.693億股Centennial股票，5.25億美元現金，以及承擔Colgate約14億美元的未償凈債務。

兩家公司的董事會一致批準了這項交易，預計將在今年下半年完成。

新公司的目標是顯著增加股東的現金回報，以目前的資產剝離價格計算，2023年預計將有超過10億美元的自由現金流。

Centennial首席執行官Sean Smith表示：“我們很高興能與Colgate成為合作伙伴，因為我們與這家公司有著共同的愿景，包括強勁的資產負債表、嚴格的投資計劃以推動現金流，以及強勁的資本回報計劃。”

該交易發生在2022年美國油氣行業上游并購活動的強勁開局之后，盡管在3月初地緣政治沖突導致油價飆升后，并購活動放緩。

能源數據分析公司Enverus上個月表示，在2022年第一季度，總共宣布了140億美元的交易。2022年1月的60億美元交易是五年來最強勁的并購市場啟動。但Enverus指出，第一季度最后一次重大交易發生在3月初，當時大宗商品價格飆升導致交易活動暫時停止。

季廷偉 摘譯自 油價網

原文如下：

U.S. Shale Merger Creates A New $7 Billion Giant

Centennial Resource Development and Colgate Energy Partners III, LLC have agreed to combine in a $7.0-billion merger of equals, creating the largest pure-play exploration and production (E&P) firm in the Delaware Basin in the Permian, the companies said on Thursday.

The combined firm will be the largest pure-play E&P company in the Delaware Basin, with around 180,000 net leasehold acres, 40,000 net royalty acres, and total current production of approximately 135,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d). 

The $7.0 billion merger of equals values Colgate at approximately $3.9 billion and is comprised of 269.3 million shares of Centennial stock, $525 million of cash, and the assumption of approximately $1.4 billion of Colgate’s outstanding net debt.

The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of this year.

The new firm aims to significantly increase cash returns to shareholders, with over $1 billion of expected free cash flow in 2023 at current strip prices, Centennial and Colgate said.

“We are excited to partner with Colgate as we share a common vision for the pro forma company that includes a strong balance sheet, a disciplined investment program to drive cash flow and a robust return-of-capital program,” said Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Centennial.

The deal follows a strong start to 2022 upstream mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. oil and gas industry, although activity slowed down after early March when oil prices spiked following the war.

A total of $14 billion in deals were announced during the first quarter of 2022, energy data analytics company Enverus said last month. The $6 billion in transactions in January 2022 was the strongest M&A market launch in five years. However, the last significant transaction in the first quarter occurred in early March before a spike in commodity prices temporarily halted activity, Enverus noted.