An investor group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP will acquire Samson Investment Co., Tulsa, Okla., one of the largest private US exploration and production companies, for $7.2 billion.
Besides KKR, the investor group consists of Natural Gas Partners, Crestview Partners, and Itochu Corp. It has committed that company headquarters remain in Tulsa.
The Schusterman family will continue to own Samson’s Gulf Coast onshore and Gulf of Mexico deepwater assets. Closing is expected by the end of 2011. The company will be renamed Samson Resources. David Adams, chief operating officer, will be named chief executive officer.
Founded in 1971, Samson employs nearly 1,200 and owns interests in more than 10,000 wells, of which it operates over 4,000, in the US. The company has key positions in oil and liquids-rich plays such as the Bakken, Powder River, Green River, Granite Wash, Cana Woodford, and Cotton Valley as well as in the Haynesville and Bossier gas shales.
Alan Petzet | Chief Editor Exploration
Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.
Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.
