The firm is representing an investor group consisting of affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., Natural Gas Partners, Crestview Partners and Itochu Corporation, in their acquisition of Samson Investment Company, one of the largest private exploration and production companies in the United States, for $7.2 billion.
Founded in 1971, Samson owns interests in over 10,000 wells of which it operates over 4,000 wells in the United States, with key positions in oil and liquids-rich plays such as the Bakken, Powder River, Green River, Granite Wash, Cana Woodford and Cotton Valley as well as in the Haynesville and Bossier gas shales. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter 2011.
The Simpson Thacher team working on this deal includes: Andrew Smith, Jay Blackman, Austin Hill, Eric Risi and Austen Heim (M&A); Brian Steinhardt, Robert Rabalais, James Cross and Erland Modesto (Credit); Ed Tolley, David Azarkh, Vanessa Clark and Evan Dunn (Capital Markets); Nancy Mehlman, Seojung Park and Jodie Sackel (Tax); Alvin Brown and Tyler Andersen (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits); Krista McManus (Real Estate); Adeeb Fadil and Noreen Lavan (Environmental); Peter Kazanoff and Nicholas Cutaia (Litigation); Michael Naughton and Kenneth Ehrhard (Antitrust); Mark Pflug, S.J. Gagliardi and Michael Vernace (Equityholder Arrangements) and Joyce Xu, Alina Casner, Jordan Taylor and Qian Lisa Wang (Derivatives).