[Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:54 a.m. CT Dec. 6.]
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is delivering on its divestment plans, saying Dec. 5 it agreed to sell a package of producing Haynesville Shale acreage in northern Louisiana for about $450 million.
The deal covers 78,000 net acres, with slightly more than half—40,000 net acres—considered core to Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake. Assets include 250 wells producing 30 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMcf/d).
The buyer was not disclosed, but Reuters reported that a subsidiary of Houston-based Indigo Minerals LLC is the acquirer, citing unnamed sources.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP, which is representing the buyer in the Chesapeake deal, did not respond a request for comment about Indigo Minerals. In April 2016, the law firm advised Indigo on a $375 million acquisition in the Haynesville.
Chesapeake is separately marketing 50,000 net Haynesville acres in the northeastern part of the shale. The company expects to close on the sale of both packages in first-quarter 2017.
“While CHK had previously announced its intention to divest the first of two Haynesville packages prior to year-end, this is still positive news that should be well received from investors,” said Kashy Harrison, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co.
John Freeman, an analyst at Raymond James, said the core acreage Chesapeake sold is located to recently drilled acreage in the DeSoto and Sabine Parish areas while the remaining area to be divested is more likely “fringe acreage.”
“As a result, we wouldn't be surprised to see this acreage fetch a slightly less robust valuation,” he said.
In any case, Seaport Global Securities said in a Dec. 5 research note that the Haynesville sale marginally helps the company’s leverage. “We still believe CHK has its work cut out for it, as net debt/EBITDA marginally moves to 6x vs. 6.3x prior by year end 2017.”
Adjusting for EBITDA of about $15 million, the sales price puts a value of about $5,600 per acre, which compares well with relative transactions of about $5,200 per acre. Harrison said Piper Jaffray estimates a sales price of about $5,000 per acre Chesapeake’s acreage.
The second package Chesapeake is offering has 45 MMcf/d of production and generates $25 million of EBITDA.
Chesapeake plans to retain about 250,000 net acres in the core of the Haynesville. The company's 2017 development program in the Haynesville will be focused on longer laterals and further enhanced completions, resulting in projected adjusted production growth of about 13% from its Haynesville operations in 2017.
Chesapeake CEO Doug Lawler said that with its previous divestments and its Haynesville deal, the company has either signed or closed transactions worth about $2 billion in gross proceeds in 2016. The company also removed a large midstream commitment in the Barnett Shale by eliminating transportation contracts with Williams Cos. Inc. (NYSE: WMB).
“We expect this total to grow in the 2017 first quarter with our second proposed acreage sale in the Haynesville,” Lawler said in a statement. “With our long-term target of $2 [billion] to $3 billion in debt reduction, we will continue to look for opportunities to accelerate value through the sale of additional noncore assets in 2017 and beyond.”
The company expects to deliver adjusted production growth of about 13% from its Haynesville operations in 2017, Harrison said.
Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com.
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