Offloading assets drives US deal-making

An accelerating vaccine rollout and robust oil prices encourage consolidation across marginal plays

Deal-making in the US shale patch recorded a sluggish Q1 for the third year in a row but appears to be picking up pace, as highlighted by the recent $6.2bn takeover of West Texas producer DoublePoint Energy. Big-name shale producers were snapped up in the latter half of last year as consolidation took hold. By contrast, transfers of asset ownership, rather than corporate M&A, have been the preferred choice of operators so far in 2021, potentially due to oil prices rising above $60/bl and a strengthening US economy buoying the price expectations of would-be prey. “Management teams know they need a stellar case to justify deals to investors” Meats, Morningstar “Asset-focused deals