© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(April 17) – Oklahoma City-based Gulfport Energy Corporation has agreed to purchase Paloma Partners, III from Houston-based Paloma Resources for $300 million. Paloma Partners holds approximately 24,000 net nonproducing acres in the core of the dry gas window of the Ohio portion of the Utica Shale.
A predominately Texas-based team from Baker & McKenzie represented Paloma Partners and Paloma Resources in the transaction. Houston partner Louis Davis led the deal team, and he received assistance from Houston partner William Davis II, Dallas partner Todd Schroeder, Chicago partner Doug Sanders and Houston associates Jonathan Lancton and Katherine Jordan.
In-house Paloma attorney Robert Thomas also worked on the deal.
In 2012, Paloma Resources turned to Baker & McKenzie when it decided to sell Paloma Partners II to Houston-based Marathon Oil Corporation for $750 million. The transaction gave Marathon 17,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Shale.
Gulfport hired to Dallas corporate partner Seth Molay of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld for the deal. Molay received assistance from attorneys in the firm’s Dallas and Houston offices, including corporate partner Joe Motes, oil & gas partner Mike Byrd, tax partner Dan Micciche, oil & gas counsel Cody Carper, oil & gas associate Rahul Vashi and corporate associates Andrew Tran and Katie Dinett.
It’s not the first time for Molay to work on this kind of deal with Gulfport. In February 2013, he led another deal team when the company purchased 22,000 net acres in the Utica Shale for $220 million. He also advised Gulfport that same month with a $300 million common stock offering that helped fund the Utica Shale acquisition.
Also this past August, Molay led a deal team that helped Gulfport execute a $300 million securities offering of senior notes due 2020.
The current transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.
Gulfport’s financial advisors were Scotia Waterous and Credit Suisse Securities. Paloma’s financial advisor was Jeffries.
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