BHP Billiton (BHP) agreed to pay $15B ($12B in cash and $3B in assumed debt) for Petrohawk (HK) late Thursday July 14, 2011. This amounted to $37.25/share. A huge premium given HK closed Thursday at $23.49/share. This effectively raises the prices on all of the oil leases in the major oil shale plays. HK had its acreage spread between the Haynesville, the Eagle Ford and the Permian Basin. Most of its assets were in natural gas.
This buyout makes oil leases in these areas more expensive. It means demand for these leases is going up. It means many big leaseholders in the most desirable plays, the Bakken and the Eagle Ford, will likely see their share prices rise. This will be partially due to the short term increase in the value of their leases, but it is also due to the long term expected BONANZA nature of their holdings. There is little doubt this will boost the companies small enough to be buyout targets. However, logic says the constant expectation of further buyouts (and the actuality of some) will even boost the big caps by extension, especially those who have large lease holdings in the Bakken and the Eagle Ford. Given the approximate 50% premium to the stock price that BHP just paid for HK, it likely means the small companies are going to command big premiums.
Source: Seeking Alpha
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