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Mergers & Acquisitions Review: Q4 & Full Year 2019 - Deal Count Falls
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Shale Experts tracked $92.4 billion in transactions in 2019. In Q4 2019 we saw an interesting trend where the appetite for M&A increased to the highest since 2017.
See chart below.
Q4 2019 Deal Activity
US E&P : Corporate M&A Count
US E&P : Top 6 Deals in Q4 2019
Full Year 2019
Top 10 Deals in 2019
Permian Basin continues to dominate the deal flow with 60% of the top deals in 2019 took place in the Permian Basin. Occidental acquires Anadarko for $57 billion, followed by Callon's $3.2 billion merger with Carrizo, then Parsley's acquistion of Jagged Peak.
Deal count falls to the lowest in years.
Another interesting observation was the deal count fell to levels not seen, (see chart below) prior to Q4 2018, deal count averaged 250-300 deals per quarter. We now have deals count running to 50-60 per quarter. As a result of the low deal counts, investment banks laid off scores of bankers. Reuters reported that Jefferies cut some of its investment banks who particular worked on deals and UBS and Simmons also cut banking teams.
While the total deal value tracked was $92.4 billion, one transaction (Oxy's acquistion of Anadarko) was more than half ($57 billion), which also accounted for 61% of the total deals, however barring that deal, we would see total deal value falling to the lowest in years at $35 billion vs average of $64 billion per year.
Recent Deals/Transactions
| Date Annouced | Category | Headline | Buyer(s) | Seller(s) | Value ($mm) |
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| 02/26/2026 | E&P | Diversified Energy Extends East Texs Footprint in $245MM Sheridan Deal |
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| 02/18/2026 | E&P | SM Energy Sells Eagle Ford Asset for $950 Million |
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| 02/17/2026 | E&P | Ovintiv Sells Anadarko Assets for $3 Billion |
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| 02/02/2026 | E&P | Vista Energy Acquires Equinor Non-Working Interest In Vaca Muera |
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| 02/02/2026 | E&P | Devon Acquires Coterra Energy; Bulk Up on Permian, Adds Gas Bank |
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| 01/16/2026 | E&P | Mitsubishi’s Strategic Entry into U.S. Shale with Aethon’s Haynesville Platforms |
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| 12/22/2025 | E&P | Harbour Energy Enters GOM; Buys LLOG |
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| 12/18/2025 | E&P | JAPEX Secures First U.S. Operated Position in $1.26B DJ Basin Acquisition of Verdad Resources |
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| 12/08/2025 | E&P | Antero Resources Acquires HG Energy II for $3.9B |
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| 12/08/2025 | E&P | Infinity Natural and Northern Oil & Gas Acquire Antero's Ohio Utica for $1.2B |
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| Total |
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