M&A

Anchor Drilling Fluids | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A

Downstream Petrochemical Co Buys Upstream Frack Fluid Co
March 27, 2014March 27, 2014

Calumet Specialty Products Partners, a company that processes crude oil and other feedstocks into customized lubricating oils, solvents, waxes and asphalt used in consumer, industrial and automotive products, has just purchased Anchor Drilling Fluids outright for $235 million in cash. Anchor manufactures drilling mud and frack fluids used in shale drilling in the Marcellus, Utica and just about every other major shale play across the U.S. It certainly makes sense for Calument, a huge chemical company already in the “downstream” petrochemical space to move into chemical manufacturing for the “upstream” exploration and production space.

You may recall Calument is also building a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant at their Karns, PA location to convert Marcellus Shale gas to diesel fuel (see Chemical Manufacturer to Build Gas-to-Liquids Plant in PA). Here’s yesterday’s announcement that Calumet has plunked down $235 million for Anchor Drilling Fluids…
Read More “Downstream Petrochemical Co Buys Upstream Frack Fluid Co”
Crosstex Energy | Devon Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnLink Midstream | Industrywide Issues | M&A

Crosstex Investors Cash in on Merger, Selling 18M Units for $550M
March 24, 2014March 24, 2014

Crosstex Energy recently got hitched with the midstream operation of Devon Energy and the new couple gave birth, or rather transformed itself, into EnLink Midstream (see Time to Congratulate Devon & Crosstex on the Birth of EnLink).The new EnLink has a growing presence in both the Utica and Marcellus Shale. They are a “player” in our space, so we keep a close eye on them.

Last Friday the newly combined and renamed EnLink announced owners of 18 million shares of stock in EnLink (called units) have put their shares up for sale with an eye to raising $550 million. However, that money will not flow to the coffers of EnLink. It will go to the owners of the units–presumably top management and/or investors in the old Crosstex. The action does make us wonder: Is this a prelude to some of top management leaving EnLink, or just big money investors cashing in to realize a big ROI? We don’t know. Here’s the announcement from Friday:
Read More “Crosstex Investors Cash in on Merger, Selling 18M Units for $550M”
Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Luzerne County | M&A | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain

Small Marcellus Drill Cuttings Company Gobbled Up by Bigger Fish
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

A small and rapidly growing company–Susquehanna Services, Inc.–uses a special process to safely process and dispose of drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) from shale drilling in the Marcellus, Utica and Green River (WY) shale plays. The company was founded in 2010 (near Scranton, PA) and it’s been nothing but rapid expansion ever since. The founder and president of Susquehanna Services, John Yarosz, has just realized his American Dream. His company was bought out by a bigger fish: Specialty Waste Operating Partners. Yarosz will stay on as president and continue to run the operation day to day–at least for now.

Here’s the press release announcing the deal:
Read More “Small Marcellus Drill Cuttings Company Gobbled Up by Bigger Fish”
CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

Fascinating Look Behind the Curtain of the Phila. Gas Works Deal
March 11, 2014March 11, 2014

Last week MDN told you about the potential sale of the country’s largest municipal-owned natural gas utility–the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW)–to Connecticut utility company UIL (see Phila. Gas Works Deal for $1.86B – Marcellus/Utica One of Keys). The law firm that structured and brokered the deal says that while the legal aspects were complicated, the legal aspects were the “easy” part. The hard part? The coming political buzz saw from selling the city-owned asset (an asset that’s been losing money for forever under city ownership). Labor unions are actively opposing the sale, afraid it will mean layoffs.

Why buy a money loser? According to the lawyer in charge of the deal, Gregory L. Seltzer, UIL wanted to buy PGW for three reasons…
Read More “Fascinating Look Behind the Curtain of the Phila. Gas Works Deal”
Industrywide Issues | M&A | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Central Environmental Oilfield Services Co Gets New “Owner”
March 11, 2014March 11, 2014

Central Environmental Services, an oilfield services company servicing Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers with its headquarters in Washington, WV, announced yesterday they have a new owner–or perhaps a better way of putting it, a new majority investor. Harbert Private Equity Fund III, LP (“HPEF III”) announced yesterday they have purchased a majority interest in Central for an undisclosed sum. We don’t expect anything will change re management of the company. It just means Central has a new pile of money with which to expand their operations–along with someone watching over their shoulder.

The press release announcing the new majority investor/owner in Central Environmental Services:
Read More “Central Environmental Oilfield Services Co Gets New “Owner””
Crosstex Energy | Devon Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnLink Midstream | Industrywide Issues | M&A

Time to Congratulate Devon & Crosstex on the Birth of EnLink
March 10, 2014March 10, 2014

As we previously told you, Devon Energy, a drilling company with some midstream assets, and Crosstex Energy, a midstream company, were due to merge (see Crosstex Energy Gets a Name Change, Merger with Devon Proceeds). It was quite a while in coming–lots of lawyers reviewing every syllable of every paper.

Last Friday the two companies announced they have finally, fully, irrevocably tied the merger knot and together they have delivered a bouncing baby…midstream company. They named the new baby EnLink. Time for a cigar…
Read More “Time to Congratulate Devon & Crosstex on the Birth of EnLink”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | M&A

KKR Launches New $2B Fund – Now in Hunt for NA Shale Investments
March 6, 2014March 6, 2014

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is a bigtime global investment firm. KKR was founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts in 1976 and is still led by them. They have gobs of money that they invest, and according to a press release they issued yesterday, they have a nice pile of money they want to invest in shale plays–$2 billion of cash. KKR has just launched their Energy Income and Growth Fund I, or EIGF for short. The I seems to indicate there may at some point be a II and so on. The aim of the new fund is to invest the money in North American unconventional oil and gas resources. (Calling Aubrey McClendon…We’ve spotted another pile of cash that’s yours for the takein’!)

Here’s the announcement from KKR about the fund and the types of shale investments they’re looking to make…
Read More “KKR Launches New $2B Fund – Now in Hunt for NA Shale Investments”
Crosstex Energy | Devon Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnLink Midstream | Industrywide Issues | M&A

Crosstex, Devon Name Names of Board & Leaders for New EnLink
February 28, 2014February 28, 2014

MDN has chronicled the marriage of Crosstex Energy (a midstream company) and Devon Energy’s midstream division (see Crosstex Energy Gets a Name Change, Merger with Devon Proceeds). The new entity will take on the name EnLink Midstream and will continue to have major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. Not every t has been crossed and i dotted, yet. The two are close to tying the knot–the shareholders of both companies need to approve the deal. But it’s a foregone conclusion that the deal is happening and will happen very soon.

It comes as no surprise that the two companies have today announced who will be on the board of directors for the new EnLink operation, and who will lead it as executive management. Here is the announcement that names names for the coming EnLink when the merger is finalized:
Read More “Crosstex, Devon Name Names of Board & Leaders for New EnLink”
Crosstex Energy | Devon Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnLink Midstream | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pipelines | Processing Plants

A Peek Behind the Curtain of Crosstex/Devon Midstream Marriage
February 4, 2014February 4, 2014

For a number of months, MDN has told you the story/news of the merger between Crosstex Energy (a Dallas, TX company) and Devon Energy (Oklahoma City, OK company). It’s an important story because both have a major presence in the Marcellus/Utica region. Essentially Devon Energy, a driller with a major midstream division, bought out Crosstex, a midstream company, and merged the two operations leaving Crosstex in command of the newly created midstream entity. The newly formed subsidiary company was recently named EnLink Midstream (see Crosstex Energy Gets a Name Change, Merger with Devon Proceeds).

An article in the Dallas Morning News about the merger caught our eye because it profiles the people involved and how the merger happened. We’re not sure that the story reveals any new, salient news about the deal–but it does reveal the depth of experience and character of the people involved. And it inspires confidence that this particular merger, a merger in which no one lost their job, portends very good things for the northeast where EnLink will continue to grow and expand. We’d call it a “here’s why you should feel good about this merger and doing business with these guys” kind of story…
Read More “A Peek Behind the Curtain of Crosstex/Devon Midstream Marriage”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | M&A | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Ohio Gathering | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Summit Midstream

Summit Midstream Closes Deal to Buy 40% Stake in Ohio Gathering
January 29, 2014January 29, 2014

Last December MDN told you that Summit Midstream was buying out Gulfport Energy’s share of the Ohio Gathering pipeline and processing system (see Summit Midstream Buys Gulfport’s Interest in Ohio Gathering). As we said at the time, the deal appears complicated on paper with multiple names (like Blackhawk Midstream), but the bottom line was/is that Summit will be the 40% owner and MarkWest Energy will remain the 60% owner of the Ohio Gathering system.

Yesterday, in an announcement by Summit that’s equally dense with details (likely written by lawyers), Summit announced they’ve closed the Ohio Gathering deal. That’s the sum total of this announcement–that the deal is now done:
Read More “Summit Midstream Closes Deal to Buy 40% Stake in Ohio Gathering”
Industrywide Issues | M&A

PwC: Marcellus, Other Shale Play M&A Deals Heat Up in 2013
January 29, 2014January 29, 2014

According to one of the top accounting/consulting firms in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity in the oil and gas sector in the U.S. heated up in 2013 and “included a strong uptick in the last three months of the year.” Overall there were 182 total deals accounting for $115.9 billion in total deal value for 2013. Also according to PwC, shale was an important part of that–in particular the Marcellus Shale.

PwC tracks M&A deals worth $50 million or more. During 4Q13, there were four such deals in the Marcellus, totaling $1.1 billion. The Utica had two deals in 4Q13 worth $263 million. For all of 2013, there were 79 shale deals (across all shale plays) that contributed $53.2 billion–that is, shale deals represented half of all oil & gas M&A deals during 2013. Here’s the announcement and analysis from PwC (sorry, we couldn’t score a copy of the full report, just the summary):
Read More “PwC: Marcellus, Other Shale Play M&A Deals Heat Up in 2013”
Industrywide Issues | M&A | Supply Chain

Oilfield Services Company Canary Buys Wellhead Competitor
January 24, 2014January 24, 2014

Canary says it is the country’s largest “independent” wellhead services company. They rent equipment and personnel to help energy companies frack wells, and they install wellheads on those wells. Canary, now a $100 million company, announced yesterday that they’ve bought out a smaller competitor: American Wellhead. American has a strong operation in the Permian Shale basin (Texas) which Canary wanted.

So why is this news for MDN? Because Canary has extensive operations in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale, servicing drillers in the northeast. And because when a company like Canary expands the way they have been expanding, it may mean opportunity for other businesses that work with, or sell to, companies like Canary. And because drillers in the northeast may be interested in knowing what their vendor is up to. For a variety of reasons, we thought this press release from Canary might be interesting for our readers…
Read More “Oilfield Services Company Canary Buys Wellhead Competitor”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | NiSource

Midstream Melee: Dominion in the Hunt to Buy NiSource?
January 21, 2014January 21, 2014

The rumor mill is buzzing with speculation that NiSource, a $10.6 billion utility and midstream company with major operations in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, is the object of desire for Dominion, a powerhouse utility and midstream company worth $38 billion. Everyone’s denying everything, but “inside sources” assure the Associated Press that Dominion is in “advanced stages” of raising the $10B+ they need to make a purchase, and that’s causing NiSource’s stock to skyrocket.

Here’s the rumor, speculation and (very few) facts as we know them:
Read More “Midstream Melee: Dominion in the Hunt to Buy NiSource?”
Crime | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Mahoning County | Ohio

Denver Co Buys OH Wastewater Polluter D&L Energy for $20.7M
November 21, 2013

MDN has long chronicled the bad actions of Ben Lupo, the guy who directed one of his employees to dump thousands of gallons of frack wastewater down a drain that eventually ended up in the Mahoning River near Youngstown, OH (see Youngstown Business Dumped >200K Gal of Untreated Wastewater). The business that did the dumping was Hardrock Excavating, but because Lupo owns several businesses and because they’re all so intertwined together, another of his businesses, D&L Energy, got caught in the mess and ended up in bankruptcy (see OH Wastewater Dumper D&L Energy Gets Business Death Sentence).

For a time, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources would not let D&L sell off it’s assets (see D&L Wants to Sell Remaining Assets at Auction, ODNR Says No). However, they finally agreed to a plan for D&L to auction its assets and that happened last week. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Ohio approved the auction yesterday. Who bought D&L? And what does it mean for landowners who signed with D&L (the company owned over 30,000 acres of shale drilling leases)? Read on…
Read More “Denver Co Buys OH Wastewater Polluter D&L Energy for $20.7M”
Industrywide Issues | M&A | Ohio | Statewide OH

Latest Shale M&A Mania to Hit Ohio…Banks?!
November 18, 2013November 18, 2013

It doesn’t surprise when we hear about mergers and acquisitions (M&As) between “producers” (i.e. drillers) in the Marcellus and Utica Shale–for example the recent purchase of Oxford Oil by Eclipse Resources (see Eclipse Resources buys Oxford Oil, Adds Another 49K Utica Acres). Nor does it surprise when we hear about M&As between midstream–pipeline and processing plants–companies (see Crestwood/Inergy Complete Their Merger Today, Worth $8B).

However, what may surprise you is to hear that the Marcellus/Utica is also driving an increase of M&As among banks–particularly in eastern Ohio…
Read More “Latest Shale M&A Mania to Hit Ohio…Banks?!”
Cameron County | Endeavour International | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pennsylvania | Samson Investment Co

Endeavour Intl & Samson Exploration Form 50/50 Marcellus JV
November 14, 2013November 14, 2013

One of the Marcellus Shale’s smaller drilling/midstream companies is Endeavour International, with 15,800 acres of leased Marcellus acreage according to NaturalGasIntel.com. Endeavour announced yesterday they’ve sold a 50% stake in their Marcellus assets to Samson Exploration, forming a joint venture with Samson. The amount of cash involved in the transaction was undisclosed.

According to the announcement, Endeavour will use the money from Samson to complete three previously drilled Marcellus wells in Cameron County, PA and hook them up to an EQT Corp. gathering pipeline. The wells should be online by the middle of 2014…
Read More “Endeavour Intl & Samson Exploration Form 50/50 Marcellus JV”