Alberta Oilsands to acquire Marquee Energy

Alberta Oilsands (AOS) has signed an agreement to acquire Canadian-based Marquee Energy, pursuant to a plan of arrangement.

Once the deal closes, AOS will amalgamate with Marquee and the new company will be named ‘Marquee Energy’.

The agreement with AOS is expected to create a growth-oriented, oil-weighted company, which will be positioned for future value creation.

Marquee said that the combination represents a recapitalisation opportunity for its shareholders, and enables it and Alberta Oilsands to emerge from a volatile commodity price environment.

The new company will be able to accelerate the development of its light oil fairway at Michichi, comprising 370 million barrels of discovered petroleum initially in place, in addition to more than 300 identified drilling locations targeting the Detrital / Banff reservoir.

Upon the completion of the agreement, the new company is expected to have the liquidity to act upon organic, as well as strategic opportunities within its core area.

Over the past two years, Marquee has drilled and placed on production 18 horizontal wells in the Michichi area of Alberta.

After an adjustment for the expected transaction costs associated with the deal, Alberta Oilsands is expected to have a net cash of $30.5m.

The company also holds 44,000 acres of bitumen leases in the Athabasca oil sands region of north-east Alberta.

Marquee Energy president and CEO Richard Thompson said: "We are excited about this transaction and believe it will provide the ability to focus New Marquee's efforts on operational execution and a focused development plan, becoming a top-tier, oil-weighted company with a clear path towards repeatable and sustainable growth."