Upstream M&A Rises 25% YOY in 2021 to $66 Billion
But quarterly value fell 50% from Q3 to just $9 billion in Q4
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Enverus, the leading energy data analytics and SaaS technology company, is releasing its summary of 4Q21 and full-year 2021 U.S. upstream M&A. In the second year of a COVID-influenced market, M&A rose 25% year-over-year to reach $66 billion. However, activity was uneven with a slow beginning and end to 2021, including $9 billion transacted in 4Q21. That kept the yearly total below the $72 billion average from 2015-2019.
"Since the emergence of COVID, upstream M&A has been characterized by fewer, but larger, deals," said Andrew Dittmar, director at Enverus. "The volume of deals remains depressed with 172 and 179 transactions in 2020 and 2021, respectively, versus an average of nearly 400 deals per year before COVID."
Private equity exits continued into the fourth quarter, with two of the top three deals of 4Q21 involving the sale of a PE-backed E&P to a public company, one each in the Delaware and Haynesville. The Delaware and Haynesville were the two most active plays of 4Q21 and combined to account for 80% of the quarter's deal value.
"Buyers have been largely focused on adding high-quality inventory to build out their runway and sustain the strong cash flow generation recently achieved," added Dittmar. "The largest supply of inventory meeting buyers' criteria is available for sale in the Delaware for oil and the Haynesville for gas."
Overall, the M&A market should be set for an active 2022. However, there may be fewer multi-billion deals to buy public or private companies as so many of those deals have already transacted and strong commodity prices lessen the pressure on smaller companies to sell.
About Enverus
Enverus is the leading energy SaaS company delivering highly-technical insights and predictive/prescriptive analytics that empower customers to make decisions that increase profit. Enverus' innovative technologies drive production and investment strategies, enable best practices for energy and commodity trading and risk management, and reduce costs through automated processes across critical business functions. Enverus is a strategic partner to more than 6,000 customers in 50 countries. Learn more at Enverus.com.
SOURCE Enverus
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