History
Antero Resources sold its Oklahoma, Arkoma and Piceance assets and used debt to refocus as a pure-play Appalachian Basin shale producer by early 2013.
2010-2011: Selling midstream, buying Marcellus acres
The record starts in late 2010, when Antero reshaped its business. In October it agreed to sell its Oklahoma Woodford Shale midstream assets (pipelines and processing, including a 60% stake in the Centrahoma Processing joint venture with MarkWest) to affiliates of Cardinal Midstream. The sale closed on November 5, 2010 for $270 million after working capital adjustments. A day earlier Antero signed a new revolving credit facility, raising its maximum size from $400 million to $1 billion and extending its maturity from March 2012 to November 2015. After the proceeds repaid borrowings, it reported $581 million of total liquidity.
On December 1, 2010 Antero bought Bluestone Energy Partners, a private West Virginia gas producer, for $93 million in cash, $25 million of assumed subordinated debt due 2013, and about 3.8 million new membership interests in Antero Resources LLC. The deal added about 40,000 net Marcellus Shale acres, lifting Antero to about 168,000 net acres in that play.
In 2011 Antero raised more debt. In July its finance subsidiary sold $400 million of 7.25% senior notes due 2019, raising about $392.8 million net to repay the bank facility and for general purposes. In October the borrowing base rose from $800 million to $1.2 billion.
2012-2013: Becoming an Appalachian pure play
In April 2012 Antero re-filed these earlier reports with Antero Resources LLC as lead filer, saying they contained no new information.
The main story of 2012 was selling assets outside Appalachia. On June 29 Antero sold its Arkoma Basin assets (66,000 net acres in Oklahoma's Woodford Shale and 5,300 in Arkansas's Fayetteville Shale) to Vanguard Natural Resources for $424 million in cash. Because the sale removed reserves, the borrowing base fell from $1.55 billion to $1.35 billion. A final price settlement was still due.
On November 1 Antero agreed to sell its Piceance Basin assets (61,000 net acres and 30 miles of pipeline) to Ursa Resources Group II for $325 million. The company described this, with the Arkoma sale, as completing its move to a pure-play Appalachian Basin shale producer. The sale closed on December 21 with $316 million of proceeds, about $112 million more from liquidating hedges, and an expected noncash loss of $375 to $400 million. Final price settlement with Ursa was also still open.
Antero also issued more notes. In November it sold $300 million of 6.0% senior notes due 2020, using about $294.6 million to repay part of the revolver. On February 4, 2013 it closed a further $225 million of the same notes, at 103% of face value, with about $228.3 million net going to repay more of the revolver. The borrowing base was cut to $1.22 billion. As of that date, Antero held Appalachian assets in the Marcellus and Utica, owed $400 million of 2019 notes and $525 million of 2020 notes, and faced a May 2013 borrowing base review.
Written from the 10 story beats below (2012 to 4 Feb 2013), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.