Noble Energy snaps up Rosetta Resources for $2.1bn

Shares in Nasdaq-listed Rosetta Resources surged on Monday after the oil and gas group received a $2.1bn takeover offer from Noble Energy, giving the latter its first footprint in the highly prospective Eagle Ford and Permian assets.

The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the terms of the deal, which will see Rosetta shareholders receive 0.542 Noble shares for each share they own.

The transaction has an implied value of $26.62 per share, representing a 28% premium to Rosetta's share price over the last month. Noble said it will also assume Rosetta's net debt of $1.8bn in the takeover.

Noble chairman, chief executive and president Dave Stover said he was "excited" by the acquisition, which "adds two exceptional and material areas to our global portfolio".

"The Eagle Ford and the Permian are premier unconventional resource plays, two of the most economic in the US, which will expand our resource base and development inventory and further diversify our portfolio," he said.

Rosetta's asset base includes 50,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford shale field in south Texas and 56,000 net acres in the Permian basin in west Texas.

Noble said it has identified over 1,800 gross horizontal drilling locations for development, "providing net unrisked resource potential of approximately one billion barrels of oil equivalent".

Completion, subject to regulatory and customary conditions, is expected in the third quarter of 2015. Following the deal, Rosetta shareholders will own 9.6% of the combined group.

Rosetta shares were up 28.2% at $24.77 by 10:23 in New York, while Noble was trading 6.5% lower at $45.93.