Wintershall Group, Kassel, Germany, and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, Hamburg, are to be merged into an independent oil and gas exploration and production company operating as Wintershall DEA.
BASF, Wintershall’s parent, and LetterOne, DEA’s parent, have signed a letter of intent to merge the companies to create one of Europe’s largest independent operators.
They plan to list Wintershall DEA through an initial public offering, subject to further negotiations and a definitive agreement.
If the deal proceeds, initial ownership in Wintershall DEA will be BASF 67% and LetterOne 33%, excluding Wintershall’s gas transportation business. At closing, Wintershall DEA will issue a bond reflecting the value of those assets to BASF, to be converted within 36 months into new shares in the company.
Wintershall in 2016 produced 48 million bbl of oil and 117 million boe of natural gas from 440 million bbl of proved oil reserves and 1.182 billion boe of gas reserves.
It has interests in Germany, Norway, the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Libya, Argentina, Russia, and the UAE.
DEA’s 2016 production totaled 22 million bbl of oil and 28 million boe of gas. It estimated total oil and gas reserves at 483 million boe.
DEA’s interests are in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Turkmenistan, and Mexico.
The companies had combined net income in 2016 of €326 million on sales of €4.3 billion.
