Western Midstream Partners (WES) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Aris Water Solutions in a transaction valued at approximately $1.5bn.
The acquisition will create a differentiated produced-water system in the Delaware Basin and expand WES’ New Mexico footprint.
Aris’s full-cycle water infrastructure assets include approximately 790 miles (1271.3km) of produced-water pipeline; 1,800 million barrels per day (mbbl/d) of produced-water handling capacity; 1,400mbbl/d of water recycling capacity; and 625,000 dedicated acres from investment-grade counterparties.
The business complements WES’ existing produced-water business and is supported by long-term contracts with significant minimum-volume commitments.
The combined infrastructure will create a fully integrated produced-water value chain, enhancing WES’ ability to compete for new business development opportunities.
The transaction is expected to diversify WES’ customer base through Aris’s long-term contracts, acreage dedications and minimum-volume commitments with investment-grade counterparties.
WES president CEO Oscar Brown said: “The addition of the Aris assets better positions WES to provide enhanced flow assurance to our producing customers in west Texas, while expanding WES’s commercial relationships with some of the top E&P [exploration and production] operators in the New Mexico portion of the Delaware Basin, providing significant customer diversification and incremental opportunities for business development.”
According to the terms of the agreement, Aris shareholders will receive 0.625 common units of WES for each share of Aris they hold.
They will also have the option to choose to receive $25 per share in cash, although this may be subject to proration, with a maximum total cash consideration for the transaction set at $415m.
The transaction reflects a premium of 10% to Aris’s 30-day volume weighted average price and a premium of 23% to Aris’ closing price on the same date, based on WES’ closing price on 5 August 2025 and on the assumption of maximum cash consideration.
The total enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $2bn before transaction costs.
The merger, unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, is subject to customary closing conditions, regulatory approvals and Aris shareholder approval.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Aris CEO and president Amanda Brock said: “Today’s transaction marks a significant milestone in Aris’ journey, and we are excited to join forces with WES.
“The combination of Aris and WES creates a premier midstream water-solutions provider of scale that is better positioned to deliver a variety of water services, provide critical flow assurance for natural-gas and crude-oil production activities, and generate strong returns for our shareholders through WES’ leading distribution policy and attentive focus on executing accretive growth projects.”
The acquisition will expand WES’ existing footprint into Lea and Eddy Counties in New Mexico, unlocking new opportunities and growing its natural gas and crude oil and NGLs gathering and processing businesses in the area.
WES expects pro forma net leverage to remain at approximately three times, and the transaction is expected to be accretive to 2026 free cash flow per unit. It represents an approximate 7.5-times multiple on consensus 2026 EBITDA, inclusive of estimated cost synergies.
The company is targeting $40m of estimated annualised cost synergies, with further system buildout and incremental commercial opportunities expected to deliver additional long-term synergies.
