Fort Worth-based Athlon Energy, which went public last year, is having a busy year. Last week it said it earned $18.8 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year's first quarter as revenue nearly doubled to $106 million. And in April it announced agreements to buy $873 million worth of properties in the Midland Basin from five different sellers. It said the 23,500 net acres have production equivalent to about 4,800 barrels of oil a day and net proved reserves of 31 million barrels. That's quite a bite when you consider that Athlon's average daily production in the first quarter was about 17,000 barrels, which itself was up from slightly less than 10,000 barrels a day a year earlier. The company's holdings are all in the Permian Basin.
How to pay for the Midland Basin deal? Athlon sold 14.8 million shares at $40 each, with net proceeds of $570.5 million. It also issued $650 million worth of senior unsecured notes with a 6 percent coupon due in 2022. Both offerings were increased from initial levels after meeting good demand, the company said. It's already closed on about $200 million of acquisitions and plans the rest by June.
Athlon was founded in 2010 by former executives of Encore Acquisition, another Fort Worth-based producer that was acquired that year by Denbury Resources. Its initial public offering on Aug. 2 raised more than $300 million when it issued 15.8 million shares at $20 each. The shares (ticker: ATHL) gained 38 percent the first day of trading and closed Tuesday at $40.30. Athlon is backed by Apollo Global Management, which in February trimmed its holdings by 16 million shares but still holds 39 percent of the company's outstanding stock, according to Bloomberg News data.
-- Jim Fuquay
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