Through an agreement, the private-equity firms KKR & Co. LP and Riverstone Holdings LLC formed a new oil and natural gas company, Trinity River Energy LLC, a press release said July 9. The firms merged assets held by KKR Natural Resources Funds with assets of Legend Production Holdings LLC, a Riverstone portfolio company, the press release added.

The transaction’s financial terms were not disclosed, the press release said.

Trinity will be based in Fort Worth, Texas, and led by Chris Hammack, the president and CEO of Legend, the press release said, noting that KKR Natural Resources Funds and Riverstone will jointly own the company.

The operations executive team will be based in Fort Worth, while the finance, accounting and information technology executive team will be based in Houston, the press release added.

Trinity will be “one of the largest operators in the Barnett Shale,” with about 258 million cubic feet equivalent per day of gross production, the press release said. It will have liquids-rich properties in the Permian Basin, East and South Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the press release said.

“We are very pleased to be combining these two portfolios of assets. Following the combination, Trinity will have an impressive position in the Barnett Shale and a mix of other highly prospective plays. We feel confident that our strong financial backing and experienced teams will allow us to build a highly successful company together,” said Hammack, who is Trinity’s CEO-elect.

“We are excited to effect this highly synergistic combination of KNR’s and Legend’s existing oil and gas assets. This is an opportunity to create a company with greater scale and a significant presence in the Barnett Shale, and thereby we hope to capture meaningful operational synergies as well as create incremental opportunities to generate additional value for our investors going forward,” said Jonathan Smidt, one of the transaction leaders from KKR.

“This merger creates a company with significant production in the Barnett Shale and attractive growth potential in the Permian Basin, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas while also benefitting from a strong balance sheet. Importantly, the company will be led by an accomplished and talented management team with deep experience in these basins. We look forward to working with the company and KKR to help Trinity achieve its full potential,” said Pierre Lapeyre and David Leuschen, co-founders of Riverstone.

The transaction is scheduled to close in the third quarter of 2014. KKR Natural Resources is making KKR’s investment in Trinity, the press release said.

KKR & Co. LP and Riverstone Holdings LLC are based in New York.