Riata Buys Dallas Company

[jbrown84]

Riata Energy, still unpacking at it's new OKC headquarters, has bought a company in Dallas that will double the amount of employees here.

Riata announces $1.5 billion purchase
By Adam Wilmoth
The Oklahoman

Riata Energy Corp. has agreed to buy NEG Oil & Gas LLC of Dallas for just more than $1.5 billion, the state’s newest energy company said Thursday.

"This transaction continues to focus Riata on our largest asset, the West Texas Overthrust Belt," said Tom Ward, Riata's chairman and chief executive officer.

Ward, co-founder of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp., became Riata’s chairman and chief executive officer in May after agreeing to buy a 46 percent stake in the former Amarillo company for $500 million.

Riata is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with producing properties in west Texas, west Colorado and Oklahoma. The company now has a little more than 1,000 employees, most of whom work in the oil fields of west Texas and Colorado. More than 65 Riata employees are housed at the Oklahoma City headquarters.

The number in Oklahoma City could double as a result of Thursday’s announcement, Riata Chief Financial Officer Dirk M. Van Doren said. All 70 NEG employees will be offered jobs in Oklahoma City, he said.

[Pete]

I hope they move downtown at some point.

[ETL]

Where are they now?

[JOHNINSOKC]

They are in THE TOWER on N.W. Expressway.

[ETL]

They should move downtown. Do you know why they chose that area?

[JOHNINSOKC]

Probably because it's in a Class A tower with high visibility and it's also close to Tom Ward's old company, Chesapeake.

[jbrown84]

Well, The Tower has a lot of space and at this point they only have 65 employees. I would assume they are somewhat mobile. They probably wanted to be close to big adoptive brother Chesapeake.

[BDP]

I'd like them downtown, too, but The Tower is a nice property.

Nice to see they offered the NEG people jobs.