Civitas Resources has agreed to acquire Denver-Julesburg Basin (DJ Basin) operator Bison Oil & Gas II in a deal valued at around $346m.
The deal includes $45m in cash and the assumption of up to $176m in debt and other liabilities, in addition to offering 2.3 million Civitas shares.
In December 2016, Bison Oil & Gas II was established with capital commitments from Carnelian Energy Capital and management.
The company, which holds leases that cover 40,000 net acres, has drilled 30 horizontal wells across its core DJ position to date.
Bison Oil & Gas II mainly focuses on the Baja area in northeastern Weld County. The Baja area features high porosity and resistivity features that is expected to result in substantial oil.
The company had also secured an operated position in Cartwright area, which is located n the eastern edge of the Wattenberg.
Through its subsidiary Bull Moose Royalties II, the company is also having substantial mineral and royalty interests across Colorado.
The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year.
The acquisition of Bison is said to strengthen Civitas’ portfolio with the addition of 102 gross locations, of which 38 are fully permitted.
Civitas ha also announced that Eric Greager has stepped down as president and CEO, and the company’s chairman Ben Dell will assume the role of interim CEO.
In a statement, Dell said: “On behalf of the Board and the entire Civitas organization, we thank Eric for all of his efforts in helping to establish Civitas as the largest pure play E&P in the DJ Basin. Eric realized much success in his time as CEO, and we wish him all the best with his future endeavors.”
In June last year, Civitas agreed to acquire Crestone Peak Resources, an operator in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin in Colorado, US, in an all-stock deal that values the enlarged company at around $4.5bn.
