A Permian Basin exploration company formed by the late Aubrey McClendon has been renamed and management beefed up as it transitions to a standalone operator, management said Wednesday.

American Energy — Permian Basin LLC is being renamed Permian Resources LLC, and parent company American Energy Permian Holdings LLC has become Permian Resources Holdings LLC. The name changes are “consistent with previously announced plans to transition to a standalone company,” independent of McClendon’s American Energy Partners LP (AELP) platform, which was formed in 2013.

The transition to a standalone exploration and production company has been in the works by AELP management for more than a year (see Shale Daily, Oct. 29, 2014). Until the commodity price crash, the Permian unit had been strategically buying properties (see Shale Daily, Nov. 24, 2014).

“The name changes, after several months of vetting, are effective immediately,” management said. Following “a detailed planning process over the past six months,” the platform separation and transition are “well underway” and should be finalized within three months.

To formalize the separation, the board on Feb. 26 appointed CFO Jeffrey L. Mobley as interim CEO; he remains the financial chief. In addition, J. Jay Stratton Jr. was promoted to COO from his previous role as vice president of operations. McClendon, who had been chairman and CEO, died in a car accident earlier this month (see Shale Daily, March 2). Mobley had been a top lieutenant at Chesapeake.

“This separation has been a key objective of our business since the company was founded in 2014 and we look forward to finalizing this initiative in the coming months as Permian Resources has matured into a stand-alone company,” Mobley said.

“We appreciate the strong support and guidance that we have received from our private equity sponsors which, includes The Energy & Minerals Group and others. Further, this transition was the stated vision of our founder, Aubrey K. McClendon, and we appreciate the assistance the AELP platform has provided since our initial formation two years ago. Under the guidance of the current management team, Permian Resources has established itself as a premier operator in the Midland Basin of West Texas.”

Permian Resources plans to issue its 4Q2015 and full-year financial and operational results next Wednesday (March 30) after market close.