Articles filed under M&A

The once and former king of unconventional natural gas production in the United States, Devon Energy Corp., is selling close to one-third of its gas reserves to give it more leverage in a bid to become a top North American oil producer, CEO John Richels said Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has approved a settlement to allow Peoples Natural Gas Co. to purchase Equitable Gas Co. for $720 million, a deal which will also create the largest local distribution company (LDC) in the state.

More than one-third of 169 senior oil and natural gas executives worldwide expect to go after acquisitions in the next year, according to EY's ninth biannual Oil and Gas Capital confidence barometer.

Carlyle Group plans to raise $7 billion for energy funds over the next two years, with more than half -- $4 billion -- targeting North America, executives said during an investor presentation in New York City.

Linn Energy LLC has agreed to raise its offer for Berry Petroleum Co. by $600 million, reinvigorating the mega-deal while the partners await a decision from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A significant drop-off in midstream merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, coupled with lackluster number of mega deals, resulted in a decline in deal values for the third quarter from a year ago, PwC US said Thursday.

Recent deals in the midstream master limited partnership (MLP) arena have moved activist shareholder Sandell Asset Management to press harder for a new strategy for DCP Midstream LLC (DCP) that he recently proposed.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., which scooped up two significant U.S.-based oil and natural gas operators earlier this year, now is looking at a range of options to reduce some of the debt that came with the buys, including asset sales, joint ventures or even a master limited partnership (MLP), CEO Richard C. Adkerson said Tuesday.

As part of a strategic review aimed at forming a smaller, more profitable company, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s (Oxy) board of directors on Friday authorized pursuit of selected asset sales, including potentially some overseas and Midcontinent assets, along with a portion of a general partner interest in Plains All American Pipeline (PAAP).

With natural gas-fired and renewable generation assets as an attraction, Princeton, NJ-based NRG Energy Inc. said Friday it has entered a $2.5 billion "planned sponsor agreement" with Edison Mission Energy (EME) and some of its subsidiaries to eventually acquire the Chapter 11-mired independent power generation company. NRG said it hopes to close the acquisition in the first quarter next year.