On 31 January 2019, the merger was approved by the Chesapeake shareholders and WildHorse stockholders.
In a deal that was announced in October 2018, Chesapeake agreed to acquire Texas-based oil and gas producer WildHorse for nearly $4bn.
Under the terms of the agreement, Chesapeake shareholders were expected to own nearly 55% of the combined company and the remaining stake by WildHorse shareholders.
As a result of the merger, WildHorse common stock is expected to be no longer listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Chesapeake CEO Doug Lawler said: “In 2018, Chesapeake Energy continued to build upon our track record of consistent business delivery and transformational progress through both financial and operating improvements.
“The addition of the WildHorse assets to our high-quality, diverse portfolio, combined with our operating expertise and experience, provides another oil growth engine with significant oil inventory for years to come and gives us tremendous flexibility and optionality to help achieve our strategic goals.”
The acquisition of WildHorse, which operations in the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk formations in southeast Texas, is expected to expand oil growth platform of Chesapeake.
In September 2018, WildHorse closed two separate agreements to acquire a combined 20,305 net acres in the Eagle Ford, Austin Chalk, and other intervals with approximately 39 Boe/d of net production across Burleson, Brazos, Lee, and Washington Counties, Texas.
The combined entity’s oil production was anticipated to increase to a projected range of 125,000 to 130,000 barrels (bbls) of oil per day in 2019, and 160,000 to 170,000 bbls of oil per day in 2020.
Providing a strategic access to premium Gulf Coast markets, the transaction adds nearly 420,000 high margin net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk formations to the portfolio of Chesapeake.
Chesapeake Energy is headquartered in Oklahoma City and its activities are focused on discovering and developing large and geographically diverse resource base of unconventional onshore oil and natural gas assets.
