Harbour Energy buys Wintershell Dea Assets for $16.52b

The news: UK oil and gas company Harbour Energy has announced that it will buy most of Wintershell Dea’s portfolio of upstream assets.

The numbers: In the USD11.2 billion ($16.52 billion) cash and shares deal, BASF, a German chemical firm which holds 72.7% of Wintershell stock, will own 46.5% of Harbour’s shares. Harbour and Wintershell had a combined revenue of USD5.1 billion in the six months ending June 2023.

The context: Harbour explained that the deal will transform the company into one of the world’s largest and most geographically diverse independent oil and gas companies, adding assets and projects in Norway, Argentina, Mexico, Germany, Denmark, Egypt, Libya and Algeria. The deal excludes Wintershell’s Russian assets.

A wave of consolidations in the energy sector has taken place during the final months of 2023, with Exxon, Chevron and Occidental all making multibillion-dollar acquisitions.