Whiting To Issue 35 Million Shares As Well As Issue $1.75 Billion In New Debt -- March 23, 2015

Reuters is reporting:

Whiting Petroleum Corp , the largest North Dakota oil producer, said on Monday it would sell 35 million shares of common stock to help pare debt from its December buyout of rival Kodiak Oil & Gas.

The offering, as well as a $1.75 billion debt issuance, may signal the company is not seeking to sell itself outright, as the cost of an acquisition would rise exorbitantly.

The stock and debt raisings also give Whiting breathing room to clean up its balance sheet and weather the low oil-price environment.

Talk had swirled in recent weeks that the company was considering a full sale, a strategy that many investors had decried, though sources said it was not in the cards.

The Kodiak deal swelled the company's debt load to $5.63 billion, a level that was increasingly uncomfortable as Whiting's shares fell more than 60 percent in tandem with oil prices.

More on this later, maybe.  I believe Whiting has about 167 million shares outstanding; this would take it to about 200 million shares outstanding.

 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here. I did this quickly while watching our older granddaughter play water polo and there may be typographical and factual errors. If this is important to you, go to the source.

I can't remember if I confirmed it through a credible source, but through the "grapevine," it is my understanding that Whiting is selling off non-core acreage in North Dakota.