Midland-based Diamondback Energy announced plans on Monday to materially boost its footprint in the prolific basin with a pair of acquisitions valued at more than $3 billion total.
Together, the transactions will increase Diamondback’s holdings in the Permian by 81,500 net acres.
In the bigger of the two deals, the company will acquire Denver-based QEP Resources in an all-stock transaction valued at $2.15 billion. The price tag includes the assumption of QEP’s $1.6 billion in net debt.
In the smaller transaction, Diamondback will purchase privately held Guidon Operating for $375 million in cash and 10.63 million shares of common stock, amounting to $862 million in all.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld advised Diamondback on both deals, with teams from Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis involved on the seller side.
The Akin Gump team advising on the QEP deal was led by corporate partners Jeffrey Kochian and Eli Miller of New York, Seth Molay of Dallas and John Goodgame in Houston. On finance, partner Alan Laves, counsel Katie Dinett (both of Dallas) partner William Morris and counsel Chase Armbrust (both of Houston) advised.
Meanwhile, Houston partners Mike Byrd and David Sweeney, along with senior practice attorney Shane Sullivan, advised on oil and gas.
On tax matters, Houston partners Alison Chen and Jocelyn Tau advised, while a team made up of Dallas partner John Allen Bain, Alex Agahzadeh and associate Shaila Manjiyani advised on real estate.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher also advised Diamondback on the QEP transaction, but the firm said no Texas lawyers were involved.
Latham & Watkins represented QEP Resources with a Houston-heavy corporate deal team. Partner John Greer leads the team, which includes associates Kevin Richardson, Denny Lee, Erin Lee, Jacob Weiner and Daisy Clifton-Lee, all of Houston. Advice was also provided on tax matters by partners Tim Fenn and Bryant Lee, with associate Mike Rowe, all of Houston.
The remainder of the team members were based in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.
Irving-based Guidon was advised by a large team mostly from Kirkland & Ellis’ Houston office. The team was led by transactional partners Rhett Van Syoc, Anthony Speier, Christopher Heasley, Kyle Watson and associate Lindsey Jaquillard, with assistance from transactional associates Patrick Lingwall, Camille Walker, Maggie Hoffman, John Elkins, Sam Roberts and Hunter Richey.
The team also included capital markets partners Matt Pacey and Michael Rigdon of Houston and associate Justin Bosworth of Dallas; tax partner Mark Dundon and associate Joe Tobias of Houston; environmental transactions partner Paul Tanaka (who splits his time between San Francisco and Houston) and associate James Dolphin of Houston; debt finance partner Andrew Veit and associates Osaro Aifuwa, Mahalia Doughty and Lauren Croft, all of Houston.
On the Guidon deal, the Akin Gump team representing Diamondback was led by Molay and Byrd, along with John Goodgame of Houston.
Sweeney and Sullivan again advised on oil and gas, while Dallas-based partner Nicholas Houpt and senior counsel Irina V. Maistrenko, along with Houston partner Cynthia Mabry and associates Leana N. Garipova and Anthony E. Hilbert, advised on corporate matters.
Chen and New York associate Sangita Vani Sahasranaman handled tax matters, while Laves and Dinett again advised on oil and gas. Quigley and Oelz handled environmental matters.
Citigroup Global Markets and RBC Capital Markets are serving as financial advisors to Guidon, and Morgan Stanley is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Diamondback on that deal.
On the QEP deal, Goldman Sachs is serving as lead financial advisor to Diamondback, with Moelis also giving financial advice.
Evercore is acting as exclusive financial advisor to QEP.