Large deals dominate the M&A space this month

The largest deal of the 30-day period from mid-November to mid-December came as an investor group consisting of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP (KKR), Natural Gas Partners (NGP), Crestview Partners and Itochu Corp., signed a definitive agreement to acquire Samson Investment Co., one of the largest private exploration and production companies in the US, for $7.2 billion. Read more about the deal in this issue's cover article starting on p.18. The second-largest deal involving US-based assets was announced on November 30. Korean companies Samsung C&T and KNOC invested heavily in North America with the joint acquisition (KNOC 90%, Samsung 10%) of Parallel Petroleum Corp. from Apollo Global Management. "Although the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by either party, it has been reported by the press that the value may be as much as $780 million," noted Evaluate Energy analyst Eoin Coyne in his OGFJ Weekly Update.

The largest deal involving non-US assets came December 14 at the hands of state-owned KazMunaiGas. In Kazakhstan, the company acquired a 10% interest in the giant Karachagamak field. The four partners in the field, BG, ENI, Lukoil and Chevron, will all contribute a portion of this 10% respective to their own interests, and gain between them $3 billion before tax. The partners must pay $1 billion in taxes and provide a $1 billion loan to the Kazakh NOC which is to be repaid over three years from KazMunaiGas' share of the field's production. The deal gives the Kazakh government influence in the only major project within its borders in which it did not already own a stake.

Centrica added to its assets via a $1.5 billion deal with Statoil. The move will increase Centrica's production by 25% and will include interests in four producing assets, including the Kvitebjorn field and four discoveries in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The assets are weighted 70% gas and the acquisition metrics equate to $13.33 per proven and probable boe and $46,000 per flowing boe of production.

PLS Energy - Deal Monitor