Elliott Is in Advanced Talks to Buy QEP Resources
Elliott could reach a deal with the Denver-based company in within weeks.
(Bloomberg) -- Elliott Management Corp. is in advanced talks to buy QEP Resources Inc., the oil and gas explorer it offered to buy in January, according to people familiar with the matter.
Elliott could reach a deal with the Denver-based company in within weeks, said one of the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. No deal has been finalized and the talks could fall through, the people said. New York-based Elliott, run by billionaire Paul Singer, already owns about 5% of QEP.
A representative for Elliott declined to comment. A representative for QEP didn’t respond to requests for comment.
QEP rose as high as 17.9% on the news. The shares were up 13.7% to $6.97 at 3:18 p.m. in New York trading Wednesday, giving the company a market value of about $1.7 billion.
QEP began working with an investment bank to explore a sale after receiving a $2 billion offer from Elliott. The company had also drawn interest from suitors including Blackstone Group LP, Whiting Petroleum Corp. and Callon Petroleum Co., people familiar with the matter said last month.
QEP has drilling rights on more than 163,000 net acres in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana and Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, according to an investor presentation in April.
The company has sold positions in Wyoming, Louisiana and elsewhere in the past two years to better focus on the Permian, the most productive oil and gas field in the U.S. QEP announced that it was putting itself up for sale in February, after its agreement to sell its Williston Basin assets fell through due to sliding commodity prices.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kiel Porter in Chicago at kporter17@bloomberg.net;Scott Deveau in New York at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Liana Baker at lbaker75@bloomberg.net, Matthew Monks, Michael Hytha
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