(Editor's note: This story was updated on July 20 to clarify the transaction value.)
Parsley Energy Inc. (NYSE: PE) supersized its portfolio with multiple, unrelated acquisitions of Midland and Delaware acreage worth $606.6 million, the Austin, Texas-based company said Jan. 10.
In total, Parsley agreed to acquire 23,000 net acres scattered across but adjacent to its core operating areas in the Permian, improving its contiguous position and opportunity for drilling longer laterals. The deals include about 2,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day of current net production.
In addition, Parsley's acquisitions included a $43 million purchase of certain mineral interests covering about 660 net royalty acres in the Southern Delaware. The sellers were not identified.
“We like PE’s acquisitions as it bolts-on around its existing footprint while paying an in-line valuation for the Delaware acreage and below recent comps for the Midland acreage,” Chris Stevens, equity research analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., said in a Jan. 10 report.
Based on Parsley’s map of its acquisitions, the acreage appears to have been acquired piecemeal in Glasscock, Upton and Reagan counties, Texas, in the Midland; and in Reeves and Pecos counties, Texas, in the Delaware.
In the Midland, Parsley will pay $402 million for 17,800 net acres and 1,200 boe/d, equating to about $20,000 per acre, Stevens said. He added the company’s acquisition of 5,200 net acres with 1,100 boe/d of production in the Delaware Basin for $205 million equates to roughly $35,000 per acre.
The acquired acreage adds 19% more acreage to Parsley’s Midland holdings, and 12% in the Delaware. The company also estimates the deals will add 340 net horizontal drilling locations targeting the Wolfcamp A, Wolfcamp B, Lower Spraberry, and Bone Spring formations.
The added drilling locations—230 Midland and 110 Delaware—represent an 8% increase vs. its previous estimates, said Mike Kelly, senior analyst with Seaport Global Securities LLC.
Additionally, the acquisitions’ longer-lateral wells should make for better economics, said Irene Haas, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities.
Parsley intends to finance the acquisitions through an upsized equity offering of about 22 million shares including a 3.3 million-share greenshoe. Any remaining proceeds from the offering, which are expected to total about $886 million, will support the company's capital program.
The company also introduced 2017 capital plans and operating guidance that contemplate a 75% increase in net lateral footage and production growth of almost 60% compared to 2016, effectively pulling forward value from its growing asset base.
Matt Gallagher, Parsley’s president and COO, said years of work within the Delaware should pay off in 2017 on top of sustainable growth from its reliable and prolific Midland holdings.
“We believe 2017 will mark an inflection point for Parsley in the Southern Delaware Basin as years of exploration and delineation begin to pay substantial dividends,” Gallagher said. “We expect production from the Southern Delaware to increase fourfold by the end of the year and, boosted by this contribution, we expect to generate significant production momentum through the end of 2017.”
Morgan Stanley and BMO Capital Markets Corp. are joint lead book-runners of Parsley's equity offering.
Transactions in the Midland Basin not yet finalized are scheduled to close by Feb. 27 and the Delaware transactions are set to close by Jan. 31.
Emily Patsy can be reached at epatsy@hartenergy.com.
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