据油价网 5月19日报道，Centennial Resource Development和Colgate Energy Partners III两家有限责任公司周四宣布，两家公司已同意以70亿美元的对等价格合并，在二叠纪的特拉华盆地创建最大的纯业务勘探和生产公司。

合并后的公司将成为特拉华盆地最大的纯勘探和生产公司，拥有约18万英亩净租赁土地，4万英亩净采油土地，目前总产量约为13.5万桶油当量/天。

70亿美元的合并相当于对Colgate的估值约为39亿美元，其中包括2.693亿股Centennial股票，5.25亿美元现金，以及承担Colgate约14亿美元的未偿净债务。

两家公司的董事会一致批准了这项交易，预计将在今年下半年完成。

新公司的目标是显著增加股东的现金回报，以目前的资产剥离价格计算，2023年预计将有超过10亿美元的自由现金流。

Centennial首席执行官Sean Smith表示：“我们很高兴能与Colgate成为合作伙伴，因为我们与这家公司有着共同的愿景，包括强劲的资产负债表、严格的投资计划以推动现金流，以及强劲的资本回报计划。”

该交易发生在2022年美国油气行业上游并购活动的强劲开局之后，尽管在3月初地缘政治冲突导致油价飙升后，并购活动放缓。

能源数据分析公司Enverus上个月表示，在2022年第一季度，总共宣布了140亿美元的交易。2022年1月的60亿美元交易是五年来最强劲的并购市场启动。但Enverus指出，第一季度最后一次重大交易发生在3月初，当时大宗商品价格飙升导致交易活动暂时停止。

季廷伟 摘译自 油价网

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.