Devon Energy to Unload Canada Business in $2.8 Billion Deal

 By WSJ Staff 
 

Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) said it has agreed to sell its Canadian business to Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ.T) for $2.8 billion.

The Oklahoma City-based producer of oil and natural gas said Wednesday that the transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter. Proceeds from the deal will be used for debt reduction, Devon said.

"The sale of Canada is an important step in executing Devon's transformation to a U.S. oil growth business," Dave Hager, Devon's chief executive, said in a news release. "This transaction creates value for our shareholders by achieving a clean and timely exit from Canada, while accelerating efforts to focus exclusively on our high-return U.S. oil portfolio."

The company also said it is continuing to proceed with the divestiture process for its Barnett Shale gas assets in north Texas. Data rooms for the Barnett will open in the second quarter of the year, and the company expects to shed the assets by the end of 2019, Devon said.

Devon said its Canadian asset portfolio consists of heavy oil assets principally located in the province of Alberta, with net production averaging 113,000 oil-equivalent barrels in the first quarter of the year.

At year-end 2018, proved reserves associated with these properties amounted to approximately 409 million barrels of oil, Devon said. Field-level cash flow accompanying these assets, which excludes overhead costs, totaled $236 million in 2018, the company said.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as lead financial adviser to Devon on the Canada transaction, while Goldman Sachs also acted as a financial adviser, the Oklahoma-based company said.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 29, 2019 05:37 ET (09:37 GMT)

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