Oil and gas company Crescent Energy Inc. has planned to acquire its Houston-based rival SilverBow Resources Inc., an agreement valued approximately at $2.1 billion. This move is anticipated to result in Crescent Energy becoming the second-largest operator within southeastern Texas’s Eagle Ford basin. The well-known law firm Vinson & Elkins were contracted to provide legal guidance to Crescent Energy regarding this transaction.
Crescent’s acquisition proposal emerged amidst SilverBow’s attempts to resist an offer from Kimmeridge Energy Management Co., who are currently advocating for three seats on SilverBow’s Board. Kimmeridge, which is SilverBow’s largest shareholder holding a 13% share, rescinded its prior takeover proposal. Notably, SilverBow is both managed and financially supported by KKR & Co.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, another highly respected law firm that outperformed its peers in securing energy deals last year, was selected to counsel SilverBow for their legal needs. The firm’s lead members, Stephen Olson, Tull Florey, Hillary Holmes, and Andrew Kaplan, are handling this high-profile case. Interestingly, Florey had previously provided legal advice to Pioneer Natural Resources on its $65 billion merger with Exxon Mobil Corp. in 2020.
In Vinson & Elkins, Partners Doug McWilliams, Robert Hughes, and Jackson O’Maley steered the legal team. McWilliams has notable experience in major transactions, having previously facilitated Noble Energy’s $13 billion sale to Chevron in 2020.
In addition to this, Richards, Layton & Finger was engaged to guide a special committee of independent directors from Crescent. The committee was advised financially by BofA Securities Inc. and Evercore. A team from Fried Frank, comprising partners Philip Richter and Roy Tannenbaum, guided BofA Securities.
Further information about the Crescent-SilverBow agreement can be found on Bloomberg Law.