Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) finished cleaning house by selling its remaining non-core U.S. assets to Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) and LinnCo LLC (NASDAQ: LNCO) for $2.3 billion, the companies announced June 30.

The deal, which includes properties in the Rockies, onshore Gulf Coast, and Midcontinent regions, completes a round of asset sales announced by Oklahoma City-based Devon last year following a $6 billion purchase in the Eagle Ford Shale.

The divestitures have generated more than $5 billion of proceeds to the company at an accretive multiple of nearly seven times 2013 EBITDA, said John Richels, president and CEO of Devon, in a statement.

"Upon completion of this transaction we will have reduced our net debt by more than $4 billion this year," Richels said.

As of March 31, the company’s net debt totaled $13.5 billion.

In April, Devon completed the sale of its Canadian conventional gas business for $2.7 billion after adjusting for currency exchange and taxes associated with the sale and repatriation of the funds to the U.S.

Devon’s assets fetched a price better than expected due to relatively stable production and the low decline nature of the assets going forward, said Sameer Uplenchwar, an analyst with Global Hunter Securities.

The assets fit well with an upstream MLP such as Linn/LinnCo, he said.

Some models forecast Devon’s non-core assets sell for $1.1-$1.4 billion. After tax, Devon will take in $1.8 billion, said David Tameron, senior analys with Wells Fargo Securities.

Overall, the deal makes Devon “cleaner” and able to put its focus on its remaining five core assets: Eagle Ford, Permian, Canada, Cana and Barnett, Uplenchwar said.

“While the sale of these properties is not a surprise, we do believe it is a long-term positive for DVN. It allows the company to streamline its portfolio,” he said. “With this sale, we now see a new DVN emerging with four-quarter 2014 as the first quarter for the clean, go forward portfolio that is expected to deliver on peer leading growth.”

Uplenchwar said GHS is awaiting guidance from Devon before reevaluating its expectations and maintains a Neutral rating.

Linn acquires current production of 275 million cubic feet of gas equivalent per day (MMcfe/d), 80% natural gas. Proved reserves associated with the properties were 1.242 trillion cubic feet of gas equivalent (Tcfe) as of Dec. 31. EBITDA accompanying the assets totaled $350 million in 2013.

The deal includes about 900,000 net acres across the Rockies, Midcontinent, East Texas, North Louisiana and South Texas regions with an estimated 4,500 total wells. Linn has identified more than 1,000 future drilling locations and more than 600 recompletion opportunities.

Linn, based in Houston, intends to finance the acquisition through the sale of its Granite Wash assets and other non-producing acreage in its portfolio. It has also secured $2.3 billion of committed interim financing for the acquisition.

Linn said June 30 it would sell its position in the Granite Wash and Cleveland plays located in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma. It is operating four drilling rigs in the area and produces 230 MMcfe/d of liquids-rich natural gas.

Linn first began horizontal drilling in the Granite Wash in 2010 and has more than tripled its initial production of 65 MMcfe/d.

Potential excess proceeds from Linn’s sale of assets will be used to reduce debt and for general corporate purposes. The interim financing was lead arranged by Scotiabank and included Barclays, RBC Capital Markets and Wells Fargo.

Vinson & Elkins LLP is legal advisor to Devon for the transaction. Devon’s financial advisors include Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Jefferies LLC as lead.

The Devon-Linn transaction is expected to close in third-quarter 2014, with an effective date of April 1.