Kirkland Counsels WPX Energy on $12 Billion Merger of Equals with Devon Energy
Kirkland & Ellis advised WPX Energy (NYSE: WPX) on its definitive merger agreement with Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN). The companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals. The combined company will have a pro forma enterprise value of approximately $12 billion, and will be positioned as the third largest unconventional oil producer in the United States, with an asset base underpinned by a premium acreage position in the economic core of the Delaware Basin.
The Kirkland team was led by transactional partners Sean Wheeler, Debbie Yee, Kevin Crews, Melissa Kalka and Cephas Sekhar and associates Zach Savrick and Andrew Lombardo; executive compensation partners Rob Fowler and Stephanie Jeane; tax partner David Wheat; transactional partners Anthony Speier and David Castro and associate Lindsey Jaquillard; capital markets partner Michael Rigdon; debt finance partners Will Bos and Kimberly Perdue and associate Shan Khan; environmental transactions partner Paul Tanaka; antitrust and competition partner Carla Hine; employee benefits partner Melissa Grim; labor and employment partner R.D. Kohut; and energy regulatory partner Brooksany Barrowes.
WPX Energy has been a long-time client of Kirkland & Ellis. In 2019, Kirkland represented WPX in two significant strategic joint ventures, a minerals joint venture and a non-op joint venture, both of which were led by transactional partners Kevin Crews, Anthony Speier and David Castro, who also are part of the Kirkland team advising WPX on the Devon merger.
