Magnolia Oil & Gas has agreed to acquire WildFire Energy, an oil and gas producer in East Texas’ Eagle Ford Shale, in a transaction valued at approximately $4.06bn, including outstanding debt.
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Magnolia mainly operates in South Texas, focusing on the core of the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk formations.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The acquisition is set to more than double Magnolia’s acreage in the Giddings field. It will add approximately 810,000 net acres across the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk plays.
Following completion of the deal, Magnolia’s total pro forma position in the region will exceed 1.25 million net acres, with more than 1.55 million gross acres.
The assets being acquired through WildFire Energy are projected to contribute around 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), of which approximately 70% is oil, with a 29% base oil decline rate. This will increase Magnolia’s oil mix to roughly 50%.
Magnolia chairman, president and CEO Chris Stavros said: “The acquisition of the WildFire oil and gas properties and acreage is a natural and strategic fit and most notably, it makes our business better by extending our runway of advantaged profitability and significant free cash flow generation.
“This transaction is the culmination of our extensive subsurface understanding, experience, and the demonstration of our proven resource capture in the Giddings field.
“With more than 1.25 million net acres and upside development opportunities across multiple benches including the Austin Chalk, Eagle Ford and Woodbine, this transaction creates a premier position in South Texas by combining two high-quality and complementary assets near Gulf Coast markets which offer premium pricing for our products.”
The purchase consideration will include 32.2 million Magnolia Class A common shares issued to WildFire Energy’s owners.
Magnolia will also assume $600m of WildFire Energy’s notes due in 2029.
Remaining funding for the purchase will be drawn from a mix of cash on hand, new debt and new equity issuance.
Magnolia has secured committed financing from a group of banks and amended its secured credit facility, increasing the borrowing base to $2bn, with $1.75bn of commitments contingent upon closing.
It expects annual run-rate synergies from operational efficiencies and corporate cost savings to exceed $100m by the end of 2027, with a net present value of approximately $700m.
Operational improvements are expected through longer lateral development, subsurface knowledge, drilling and completion expertise, shared infrastructure, and cost reductions in supply chain and logistics.
The transaction also includes infrastructure in the Giddings area, including a sand mine that supplies around 80% of Magnolia’s annual sand needs and more than 500 miles of gas-gathering pipelines.
The deal, which has received unanimous approval from Magnolia’s Board of Directors, is expected to close late in the third quarter of 2026 (Q3 2026).
For this transaction, Magnolia was advised by JP Morgan Securities and Moelis & Company as lead financial advisers, with additional financial advice from Citigroup. Legal counsel was provided to Magnolia by Kirkland & Ellis.
WildFire was advised by Jefferies as lead financial advisor and received additional advice from BofA Securities. Troutman Pepper Locke served as legal counsel to WildFire.
In addition to the deal, Magnolia provided an update on its Q2 2026 operations, with production averaging 106,100boepd, including oil production of 41,900 barrels per day.
Drilling and completion capital spending for Q2 totalled $125m and the company ended the period with $296m in cash.
