Vitesse Energy Inc., Greenwood Village, Colo., has closed an all-stock deal to acquire Lucero Energy Corp., Calgary. With the closing, Lucero became a wholly owned subsidiary of Vitesse.
The transaction adds an operational component to Vitesse’s primarily non-operated strategy (more than 65 operated producing wells) and creates an oil-weighted company with assets in the core of the Williston basin.
The operations provide flexibility in future capital spending with 2 gross (1.9 net) drilled uncompleted wells and up to 50 gross (25 net) locations in the core of the Bakken, Vitesse said in December 2024 when the deal was announced. The company plans to hedge a ‘significant’ portion of the acquired oil production through end-2026.
Deal terms were outlined as an all-stock transaction with a fully diluted equity value of $222 million.
The addition of Lucero’s operations provide additional scale to Vitesse’s assets across the Bakken, where Lucero had about 6,400 boe/d of two-stream net production during third-quarter 2024.
Vitesse is targeting about $3 million of general and administrative synergies annually.
Two members of Lucero’s board, Gary Reaves and M. Bruce Chernoff, have been appointed to the Vitesse board. The additions expand Vitesse’s board to a total of nine directors. Vitesse’s leadership team will continue to serve in their respective capacities.
