hunt petroleum - xto energy, hunt oil, xto, aapl, bloomberg energy

XTO Energy, an oil and natural gas producer, said Tuesday that it will acquire Hunt Petroleum, a company owned by descendants of oil tycoon H.L. Hunt, for about $4.2 billion in cash and stock, in what is the latest in a string of rapid-fire deals this year.

XTO has already spent nearly $4 billion on acquisitions last year. Two weeks ago, it agreed to buy properties in the Bakken Shale in Montana and North Dakota from Headington Oil, a privately held company, for $1.85 billion.

In light of its recent deals, XTO raised its 2008 production growth target to 28 to 30 percent.

The offer, which amounts to about $2.6 billion in cash and XTO shares worth about $1.6 billion. Through the deal, XTO will gain properties with about 1.05 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, about 62 percent of which are proved developed.

"With the quality of these assets and the strong energy prices, this transaction reflects a defining moment in building our Company's future and creating value for our shareholders," Bob R. Simpson, XTO's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. "We plan to accelerate the activities and know that the assets will achieve even more."

Hunt's board began exploring a potential sale late last year.

The company's properties are based primarily in eastern Texas and central and northern Louisiana, as well as in the Gulf Coast. XTO estimated that the total acreage for both the producing properties and undeveloped leasehold is 919,409 net acres.

The deal is scheduled to close by Sept. 3.

It's just energy news day, isn't it? The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Fort Worth's own XTO Energy will be purchasing Hunt Petroleum:

Natural-gas producer XTO Energy Inc. has agreed to acquire closely held Hunt Petroleum Corp. for $4.19 billion in cash and stock, a deal that may help put to rest a Hunt family feud.

The purchase price consists of $2.6 billion in cash and 23.5 million shares of XTO common stock valued at approximately $1.6 billion, or $67.50 a share.

Here's more on the family feud mentioned above that the deal may settle:

The Hunt sale signals the end of the line for the 80-year-old company, created by H.L. Hunt, who died in 1974 and was once considered the world's richest man. His nephew, octogenarian Tom Hunt, was H.L. Hunt's right-hand man and has been the company's chairman.

But the family has been engulfed in a battle over several billion dollars in trust assets. After H.L. Hunt's oldest daughter died last year, her heirs began battling over the inheritance, with one of her grandsons suing almost the entire family. He accuses his relatives of conspiring to plunder the family trusts and defraud the Internal Revenue Service.

With the pace of growth and acquisitions XTO is in right now, we might be seeing them building a brand-new building in downtown to go with their restored historic properties sooner than we thought.

It was recently announced the XTO Energy is going to buy out Hunt Petroleum for around 4.2 billion dollars in cash and stock.

Hunt Petroleum is owned by descendants of H.L. Hunt, an oil tycoon.

XTO Energy has been aggressively acquiring energy companies to solidify their position in the "power structure." Two weeks ago XTO agreed to buy Bakken Shale in Montana and North Dakota from Headington Oil, another privately held company, for $1.85 billion dollars. This shale can be used to turn coal into liquid fuel, another alternative fuel source.

Bob R. Simpson, XTO's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement:

"With the quality of these assets and the strong energy prices, this transaction reflects a defining moment in building our Company's future and creating value for our shareholders. We plan to accelerate the activities and know that the assets will achieve even more."

The deal between Hunt Petroleum and XTO Energy is expected to close on or before September 3, 2008.

For more information, please visit XTO Energy.