Making its move: ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil in $41bn swoop on XTO
US supermajor ExxonMobil is set to buy XTO Energy in a $41 billion all-stock deal, giving it a major stake in North America's booming unconventional resources play.
The deal, which is still subject to XTO stockholder approval and regulatory clearance, will see ExxonMobil issue 0.7098 shares for each XTO share.
This represents a 25% premium for XTO, based on the closing price of both company’s shares on 11 December. The deal also includes $10 billion of existing XTO debt.
XTO’s resource base is the equivalent of 45 trillion cubic feet of gas and includes shale gas, tight gas, coal bed methane and shale oil.
“These will complement ExxonMobil’s holdings in the US, Canada, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Argentina,” ExxonMobil said in a statement.
Completion is expected in the second quarter of next year.
Once the deal closes, ExxonMobil will set up a new upstream organisation to manage the global development and production of unconventional resources. It will be based in XTO's current offices in Fort Worth, Texas.
"Natural gas is trading at historical lows. ExxonMobil is making a bullish statement about natgas prospects, and if others agree, you could see more deals like this, but only time will tell," Tom Schrader, managing director for US equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore, told Reuters.
US natural gas prices have been under pressure as inventories of the fuel rose to record high levels, but prices have begun to firm in recent weeks as winter temperatures tap into those stockpiles.
Analysts said the deal could be the beginning of a wave of consolidation in the energy sector has cash-rich companies such as ExxonMobil move to snap up smaller players with attractive assets.