Freehold Royalties Announces Strategic Midland Basin Royalty Acquisition and Bought Deal Equity Financing

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CALGARY, AB, Dec. 9, 2024 /CNW/ - Freehold Royalties Ltd. (Freehold or the Company) (TSX: FRU) has entered into a definitive agreement with a private seller to acquire mineral title and royalty interests in the core of the Midland Basin in Texas (the Acquisition or the Acquired Assets) for approximately $216  million, net of estimates for exchange rate and customary closing adjustments.

Acquisition Snapshot

  • 1,250 – 1,350 boe/d of premium priced, light oil weighted production (~800 bbls/d oil)

  • Approximately $31 million in 2025E net royalty revenue (net of production and ad valorem taxes and assuming US$70/bbl WTI)

  • ~244,000 gross drilling acres, expanding our core, resource rich Midland Basin footprint by ~35%

  • Highly undeveloped asset with ~25% of lands not having any horizontal drilling activity to date

  • ~95% of production operated by Midland Basin focused ExxonMobil and Diamondback Energy

  • 16 rigs currently active on the Acquired Assets

  • Positions Freehold's royalty lands to capture one in every three rigs active in the Midland Basin (almost doubling from one in every six rigs prior to the Acquisition)

"This acquisition is a successful reflection of our disciplined approach to strategic M&A, in an area we know well and further builds on the two core Midland Basin acquisitions we closed earlier this year. This fits precisely with our strategy of positioning our royalty portfolio in areas with best-in-class oil weighted reservoirs that have significant development runway under high quality operators. This transaction expands our footprint, right in the heart of the Midland Basin under ExxonMobil and Diamondback, two operators who recently completed a combined ~US$90 billion of acquisitions to increase their stakes in this extensive resource play" said David Spyker, Freehold's President and Chief Executive Officer. "This type of accretive deal with land and inventory depth, provides both growth and value to the Company and our shareholders immediately and is expected to for years to come."

Freehold will fund the Acquisition, which is expected to close December 13, 2024, through a $125.1 million bought deal equity financing (the Equity Financing) and Freehold's existing credit facilities.

Acquisition Highlights  

  • Immediately adds significant production and a deep prospective multi-bench development inventory

    • Freehold estimates 2025E production from the Acquired Assets to be 1,250 – 1,350 boe/d (approximately 61% light oil, 20% natural gas liquids and 19% natural gas) representing approximately $31 million in 2025E net royalty revenue (net of production and ad valorem taxes) based on US$70/bbl WTI, with limited tax burden in the near term

    • Pro forma, almost doubles the share of drilling activity in the Midland Basin on Freehold's royalty lands to one in every three wells drilled

    • Adds 0.8 net drilled and uncompleted wells (DUCs) and permits, increasing Freehold's line of sight total U.S. inventory by over 20% to 4.4 net activity wells

    • More than 25% of the lands are characterized as undeveloped with no prior horizontal drilling activity. These lands are positioned to benefit from the most current drilling and frac stimulation methods as well as "cube development" that operators in the Midland Basin are prioritizing to maximize productivity and reserve recovery

  • Increases Freehold's exposure to premium priced, oil weighted production from the Midland Basin

    • 61% oil weighting vs 51% on Freehold's current total production base (Q1 – Q3 2024 average)

    • 22% higher realized pricing from the Acquired Assets ($68.83/boe vs $56.34/boe Q1-Q3 2024 from Freehold's current corporate asset base)

  • Enhances Freehold's alignment with investment grade operators with approximately 95% of current production from the Acquired Assets operated by ExxonMobil and Diamondback Energy

  • ~244,000 gross drilling acres (including ~74,000 gross drilling acres that overlap with existing Freehold acreage) in the Midland Basin, increasing Freehold's Midland Basin acreage by approximately 35%

    • Approximately 85% of acreage is concentrated in the core of the Midland Basin in Martin and Midland counties, where over 50% of total drilling activity in the Midland Basin since 2022 has been concentrated

  • Provides immediate and expected increasing future accretion on funds flow per share, free cash flow per share and total production and oil production per share

  • Pro forma net debt to trailing 12 months funds from operations of 1.1x is below Freehold's 1.5x leverage threshold

    • Allows Freehold to continue to execute a consistent, sustainable return of capital program which balances dividend growth and accretive acquisition opportunities while maintaining a strong balance sheet

  • Promptly following the closing of the Acquisition, Freehold is expecting that its senior credit facility will increase from $400 million to $450 million, maintaining its strong liquidity position post-Acquisition

  • Freehold has an option to acquire up to an additional $65 million interest in the Acquired Assets, on the same terms and conditions, up until the closing of the Acquisition