From Bloomberg:
Exxon Mobil Corp.’s (XOM) planned buyout of independent natural gas producer XTO Energy Inc. (XTO) provided a ringing endorsement for the commodity on Monday–and could signal a modest uptick in merger activity.
The deal is valued at $41 billion, including the assumption by Exxon of about $10 billion of XTO’s debt, and is the largest energy transaction since Chevron Corp. (CVX) acquired Texaco in 2001. It underscores the increasing attention major oil companies have been paying to unconventional resources–and is likely to stoke some of the mergers and acquisitions that until recently have been frozen by uncertainty about the future of natural gas prices.
“We should see a slow and steady increase in M&A activity,” said Stephen Davis, an associate portfolio manager for Alpine Mutual Funds…
