The private equity owners of Colgate Energy Partners III LLC are reportedly preparing to take the Permian Basin operator public in what would be the first major IPO of a Permian-based oil and gas producer since 2017.

Based in Midland, Texas, Colgate Energy is a privately held, independent oil and natural gas company operating in the Permian Basin. Since its founding in 2015 with backing from Pearl Energy Investments and NGP, the company has built a formidable position in the Permian’s Delaware Basin, including through a series of notable acquisitions made this year.

Colgate is likely to target second-quarter 2022 to launch an offering—possibly in April—though it could also explore a sale, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking. Or Colgate, which reportedly has strong free cash flow, could just go on being a private independent moneymaker.

Reuters previously reported Pearl and NGP were working with Credit Suisse Group AG for the Colgate IPO at a valuation approaching $4 billion, including debt, citing people familiar with the matter. If successful, the IPO would mark the first major offering in the Permian Basin since Jagged Peak Energy went public in January 2017 and follows Vine Energy’s IPO earlier this year.

A representative of Colgate declined to comment on the Reuters report. However, a source did tell Hart Energy that Colgate considers the value of its assets and production at closer to $5 billion.

Pending an acquisition announced in early November, Colgate’s position in the Permian Basin covers roughly 108,000 net acres, primarily in Reeves and Ward counties, Texas, and New Mexico’s Lea County, with estimated current net production of 62,000 boe/d.

Colgate previously already completed two major acquisitions this year—first, with its all-stock acquisition of Luxe Energy in June followed by a $508 million cash acquisition of Reeves and Ward county acreage from Occidental Petroleum Corp., which the company completed in July.

The company’s pending acquisition is expected to close in first-quarter 2022. The $190 million transaction made with an undisclosed seller includes approximately 22,000 net acres in New Mexico’s Eddy and Lea counties directly offseting Colgate’s existing position.

“Given the depth of our current inventory, we have a very high bar for acquisitions and this one was just too good to pass up,” Will Hickey, co-CEO of Colgate, said of the deal in a company release on Nov. 7.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include Vine Energy’s IPO earlier this year. An earlier version of the story erroneously listed the Berry Petroleum IPO in 2018 as the last major IPO by a U.S.-based oil and gas producer.

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