Civitas To Buy Privately Held Bison Oil & Gas For $346 Mln; CEO Steps Down

(RTTNews) - Civitas Resources, Inc. (CIVI), an oil and gas company, said on Tuesday that it has signed a deal to acquire privately held Denver-Julesburg Basin operator, Bison Oil & Gas II, LLC, for around $346 million consideration. It said, concurrent with the deal, its Chief Executive Officer Eric Greager has stepped down.

The $346 million consists of 2.3 million CIVI shares, $45 million in cash, and the assumption of approximately $176 million in debt, and other liabilities.

Civitas said the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022 and shows acquirer's approach to consolidation with a focus on value creation and accretion, adding that "it is also accretive to Civitas' NAV, 2022E production and 2022E EBITDA; accretive to FCF beginning in 2023."

The move is also expected to strengthen Civitas' portfolio by adding 102 gross high-quality locations, of which 38 are fully permitted.

Civitas said that concurrent with the deal Eric Greager has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer or CEO, with effect from January 31. However, Greager has agreed to serve as a technical consultant to Civitas for the next 12 months.

Consecutively, Civitas' Chairman, Ben Dell, will assume the role of interim CEO, until the appointment of a suitable candidate for the role.