[UPDATE 06-20-23 – The deal has now closed]

Ranger Oil, based in Houston, has agreed to be acquired by Calgary-based Baytex Energy for $2.5 billion or $44.36 per share. The price includes $650 million of debt.

Baytex has most of its E&P operations in Canada but it does have a 25% working interest in 78,000 acres in the Eagle Ford basin in South Texas. Ranger is a pure-play Eagle Ford operator with a gross acreage of 189,000 acres.

A third of the price price will be paid in cash, the rest in stock. Baytex shareholders will end up owning about 63% of the combined business and Ranger shareholders 37%.

The Baytex management team, led by CEO Eric Greager, who only joined the company in October, will run the combined business. However, Baytex intends to add one senior operational leader to the leadership team and retain the Ranger teams in Houston.

Ranger was formerly known as Penn Virginia Corporation. The company entered bankruptcy proceedings in 2016 and eliminated $1.1 billion in debt (converted to equity). During Chapter 11, it moved its head office from Philadelphia to Houston.

In October 2018, Denbury Resources announced it would buy Penn Virginia for $1.7 billion, including $400 million in cash. The deal collapsed in March 2019, as the then major shareholders of Penn Virginia thought the deal undervalued the company.

Juniper Capital invested $188 million in Penn Virginia in November 2020 and became the largest shareholder with a 60% stake (now down to 54%). The following year the company bought Lonestar Resources for $370 million and renamed the combined company as Ranger Oil.

In November 2022, Reuters reported the Ranger had put itself up for sale following large deals for other operators in the Eagle Ford.

The deal is expected to close in Q2 2023.

Baytex Investor Presentation – Ranger