Vermilion acquires Westbrick Energy for US$742 million

Vermilion Energy will add 50,000 boe/d of production and 770,000 net acres in Alberta's Deep Basin with a company changing US$742 million (Cdn$1,075 million) deal for Westbrick Energy. Westbrick Energy was one of the few remaining US private equity-back Canadian producers that had not yet monetised. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) invested in 2012 and helped see the Deep Basin focused company grow production 20-fold since. The company has been marketed for sale since at least November 2022. Vermilion is an existing Deep Basin player with a history of growing production. The international gas producer has now made two successive large deals in Canada that adds exposure to liquids rich gas with long term drilling inventory. That inventory may prove critical in the next decade as the company's European assets mature.