CALGARY — Whitecap Resources Inc. and Veren Inc. have announced a strategic merger in a $15-billion all-share transaction, creating a leading light oil and condensate producer with assets concentrated in Alberta's Montney and Duvernay formations. .
Under the agreement, Veren shareholders will receive 1.05 Whitecap shares for each Veren share held. The combined company will operate under the Whitecap name, with Whitecap’s management team at the helm and four Veren directors, including Veren’s current president and CEO, Craig Bryksa, joining Whitecap’s board. The deal is expected to close before May 30, 2025.
“We are excited to bring together two exceptionally strong asset bases to create one world-class energy producer with one of the deepest inventory growth sets of both liquids-rich Montney and Duvernay opportunities, along with conventional light oil opportunities in some of the most profitable plays in the Western Canadian basin,” said Whitecap president and CEO Grant Fagerheim. “We look forward to bringing Whitecap and Veren together and providing increased value to both sets of shareholders well into the future.”
The merger will make the new entity the largest landholder in the Alberta Montney, the second-largest across the Montney and Duvernay fairways, and a key light oil producer in Saskatchewan. It will also rank as the seventh-largest producer in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, with a projected production of 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), of which 63 per cent will be liquids.
Bryksa said the combination “unlocks significant value for all shareholders” by increasing scale, inventory, and free funds flow generation. “With enhanced scale, deep inventory, and increased free funds flow generation, we're building a business with a differentiated competitive advantage,” he said.
The transaction is expected to generate $200 million in annual synergies and strengthen the company's balance sheet, with an initial net debt-to-funds flow ratio of 0.9 times, improving to 0.8 times by the end of 2026. Whitecap’s annual dividend of $0.73 per share will be maintained, representing a 67 per cent increase in base dividend for Veren shareholders.
The deal remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. Both companies' boards have unanimously recommended shareholder approval at special meetings scheduled for May 6, 2025.
