KKR Confirms Buyout of Samson

As had been reported on earlier over the last few days, there is a huge deal in private equity and the world of exploration and production in oil and gas.  An investor group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR), Natural Gas Partners, Crestview Partners, and Itochu Corporation is acquiring Samson Investment Company.

Samson is listed as one of the largest private exploration and production companies in the United States.  Large must be correct, because the acquisition is for a sum of $7.2 billion.

The KKR-led group is buying all of Samson’s assets with the exception of its onshore Gulf Coast and offshore deep water Gulf of Mexico assets.  Those carve-out assets will remain under ownership by the Schusterman family.

Samson was founded in 1971 and it owns interests in over 10,000 wells.  It operates more than 4,000 wells in the United States, with key positions in oil and liquids-rich plays such as the Bakken, Powder River, Green River, Granite Wash, Cana Woodford and Cotton Valley as well as in the Haynesville and Bossier gas shales.

KKR and the investment group will keep the headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma and David Adams will be named CEO of Samson and the company will be renamed Samson Resources.