Chesapeake to buy Southwestern Energy in $7.4 billion deal (updated)

Southwestern Energy Co

11/01/2024 11:08

(Adds details and background on the deal in paragraph 2-4)
       Jan 11 (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy  CHK.O  said on
Thursday it would buy smaller rival Southwestern Energy  SWN.N 
in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.4 billion, enabling the
second-largest U.S. natural gas producer to take the top spot.
    The move extends a recent spate of multi-billion deals in
the U.S. energy sector including Exxon Mobil's  XOM.N 
$60-billion Pioneer Natural Resources  PXD.N  offer and
Chevron's  CVX.N  $53-billion agreement for Hess  HES.N , as
firms seek lucrative acreage to rebuild depleting assets.
    U.S. natural gas prices are expected to tick higher from a
jump in exports, analysts have said after a gloomy 2023 due to
record production, ample inventories and a mild winter. Profits
also took a hit as prices  NGc1  plunged 40% in 2023 from a year
earlier.
    The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.

 (Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
 ((Arunima.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aru_Kumar94
 ;))