Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. (NYSE: MHR) is officially over Canada.
After making a deal to sell its assets for CA$75 million, or about US$67.5 million at current exchange rates, the company has met its goal of exiting and divesting all its Canadian holdings.
MHR said April 22 that it signed a definitive agreement with a Canadian private company to sell all of its ownership interest in the company's Canadian subsidiary. The company also appears on track to sell its Appalachian Basin assets within the next month, an analyst said.
The assets sold include 49,470 net acres located with 84 gross producing wells and an estimated 630 barrels of oil equivalent per day of net production. MHR plans to use the net proceeds from the sale to pay down outstanding borrowings under its senior revolving credit facility, and for general corporate purposes.
Magnum Hunter previously sold nearly all its Alberta, Canada oil and gas properties in April. Hsulin Peng, an analyst with Baird Energy, said the Alberta assets sold for US$8.6 million. MHR is pursuing about $400 million of asset sales in 2014 with announcements expected on various deals over the coming months.
Gabriele Sorbara, an analyst with Topeka Capital Markets, said the company’s selling price is in line with expectations.
“With this sale, MHR is completely out of Canada, a positive move that pushes MHR closer to a pure play core Marcellus/Utica company, which should result in an upward rerating,” Sorbara said. “We believe MHR will make the complete transition to a pure-play over the next 12 months, with the exit from the Bakken in North Dakota.”
Sorbara said that, by the end of May, he expects MHR to announce the sale of the Appalachian Basin assets for $65 million. MHR acquired the stake from NGAS Resources Inc. in 2011 for an announced price of $98 million.
The company is also expected to increase its borrowing base to further its liquidity position.
“MHR is our favorite name for exposure to the Utica Shale (about 99,000 net acres) and Marcellus (about 79,000 net acres). Over the next several months, with the improving assets in the Marcellus/Utica, expected production ramp into year-end and with further enhancements to its balance sheet/capital structure, we expect shares to break out of the currently depressed valuation range,” he said.
MHR said the closing of the sale will be another step toward its strategy to identify and monetize non-core assets and reallocate its resources primarily to its existing (and anticipated future additional) properties and operations—including its midstream operations—in the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale in West Virginia and Ohio.
MHR’s assets there offer the opportunity for more attractive returns on invested capital, the company said. MHR is continuing to evaluate its existing asset base and believes that a focus on core assets, such as the Marcellus and Utica properties, is essential for the success of its future business plans.
The Canadian deal is subject to customary purchase price adjustments with an effective date of March 1. The transaction is expected to close by May 12.
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