Southwestern and Chesapeake Energy near $17-billion merger - WSJ (updated)

Southwestern Energy Co

05/01/2024 20:54

(Adds details and background in paragraphs 2,3,4 and 5)
       Jan 5 (Reuters) - Southwestern Energy  SWN.N  and
Chesapeake Energy  CHK.O  are close to a merger that would
create a roughly $17-billion company that would rank as one of
the largest U.S. natural-gas producers, the Wall Street Journal
reported on Friday.
    The deal could come together as soon as next week, the
report said, citing people familiar with the matter, provided
the talks do not hit a last-minute snag. 
    Shares of Southwestern and Chesapeake climbed 6.6% and 3.2%,
respectively, on the news. 
    Reuters reported in October that Chesapeake was exploring an
acquisition of Southwestern. 
    A deal would help the combined company overtake EQT  EQT.N 
as the largest natural gas-focused exploration and production
firm in the U.S. by market value, at a time when shale companies
seeking scale and efficiencies are fueling a rapid
consolidation.
    In 2021, Chesapeake emerged from a bankruptcy which
epitomized the boom and bust of debt-laden exploration and
production companies that expanded aggressively in the shale
patch. 
    Since then, the company has been shedding oil-producing
assets to focus on its competence in natural gas.

 (Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
and Sriraj Kalluvila)
 ((Tanay.Dhumal@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/TanayDhumal;))