Noble to Buy Rosetta | Russell T. Rudy Energy LLC
“Rigzone” reports that Noble Energy, Inc. will buy Rosetta Resources for $2 billion and assume its debt of $1.8 billion. The transaction is the latest in a series of combinations driven by the recent collapse of oil prices. The acquisition will be a stock swap. According to recent market valuations, Noble is paying a premium of 38% for Rosetta. Consequently, Noble’s stock dropped 5% after the announcement.
In spite of the drop in Noble’s stock price, industry observers tended to view the transaction as quite positive. Noble is well known for their exploration successes in Israel and more than a third of its total sales volume is from outside the U. S. This acquisition will give Noble diversification into the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas and the Permian Basin in West Texas. Together these properties will total over 100,000 acres and provide Noble with 1,800 drilling locations and about 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.
To read the article in its entirety, please go to http://www.rigzone.com/news/article_pf.asp?a_id=138514 .
