Oil States International Inc. (NYSE: OIS) is expanding its well completions business in key U.S. shale plays with an $85 million acquisition of Falcon Flowback Services LLC, the Houston-based company said Feb. 28.
The acquisition comes as oilfield service M&A continues to heat up providing the industry with much-needed consolidation, said equity research analysts from Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH), which noted that Oil States purchase of Falcon shouldn’t come as a surprise “for those paying close attention.”
The Falcon deal follows Oil States’ recently completed $525 million acquisition of downhole tool provider GEODynamics Inc. in January. Oil States expects the addition of Falcon will provide “greater scale and access to highly-trained field technicians in a tightening labor environment,” Cindy B. Taylor, Oil States’ president and CEO, said in a statement.
Falcon is a full-service provider of flowback and well testing services for the separation and recovery of fluids, solid debris and proppant used during hydraulic fracturing operations. Based in Oklahoma City, the company has seven service locations and more than 400 employees throughout the U.S.
Oil States acquired Falcon on a cash-free and debt-free basis from Tulsa, Okla.-based Argonaut Private Equity. The acquisition was funded using borrowings under Oil States’ revolving credit facility.
“Given the funding vehicle and the valuation gap, this deal should be nicely accretive for Oil States. The target is also levered to an increasingly important piece unconventional well completion/production pie as flowback job sizes and frequency both continue to increase,” TPH analysts said in a morning note on March 1.
Argonaut, a middle market private equity firm, had acquired Falcon in November 2015 to serve as a growth platform for the company. As a result of the partnership, Falcon was able to expand its presence into “nearly every major oil and gas basin in the Lower 48 and significantly increased its asset base” with the strategic acquisitions of Erick Flowback Services and Rod’s Production Services in April 2016, according to an Argonaut press release.
Simmons & Co. International, energy specialists of Piper Jaffray, was Falcon and Argonaut’s exclusive financial adviser and Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers PLLC provided the companies with legal advice during the sale process.
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