2008-10-09-2008-09-02

To buy 243 wells in WY, CO, KS, MT.

Arete Industries Inc., Westminster, Colo., (Pink Sheets: ARET) plans to acquire oil and gas properties in Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas and Montana from undisclosed Denver-based oil and gas and operating companies for $21 million in cash. The assets include 243 wells, including 46 operating wells (proved developed producing) and 197 proved undeveloped. Arete owns the TOP gathering system in Campbell County, Wyoming, which can tie into the wells. Arete will fund the acquisition with a two-year, $27-million term loan from First Diversified Financial Services Inc. of Houston. The loan will be a two-year term loan for $27 million that includes $21 million for the acquisition and the remaining $6 million for the costs of the loan and drilling in the next 18 months. Arete plans to complete the acquisition by early fourth-quarter. Arete chief executive Charles Gamber says, "This has been a long time coming and we have worked very hard to make this happen. We had problems with the pipeline early on but it is performing very well for now and we expect this acquisition of assets to provide us the ability to continue to execute our plan presented in mid 2006."