Merger

EQT Corp. investor Jana Partners LLC wants the producer to scrap its multi-billion dollar agreement to acquire Rice Energy Inc. and instead pursue the separation of its upstream and midstream businesses, which the hedge fund believes would create substantially more value for shareholders.

Trican Well Service Ltd., already one of Western Canada’s largest pressure pumpers, is combining in a friendly merger with Canyon Services Group Inc. to improve efficiencies and respond to an evolving oil and natural gas market.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal developer NextDecade LLC of The Woodlands, TX, has struck a tentative deal to go public in a reverse merger transaction that values the company at $1 billion.

Gas Natural Inc. shareholders have approved the company’s merger with a subsidiary of energy-focused private equity firm First Reserve, clearing the way for regulatory approval and keeping the deal on track to close in the second half of 2017.

KLR Energy Acquisition Corp., a blank check company, has reached an agreement to merge with Tema Oil and Gas Co. to form Rosehill Resources Inc., a new pure-play company focused on the Delaware Basin, in a deal valued at $445 million.

U.S. upstream transactions to date have nearly doubled in 2016 following a seven-year low in 2015, triggered by a surge of Permian Basin activity, oil and gas researcher 1Derrick said Tuesday.

North American contract driller Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. has agreed to buy out financially troubled Seventy Seven Energy Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at $1.76 billion that would expand its fracturing business and its onshore leverage.

Investors haven’t reacted favorably to Sunoco Logistics Partners LP’s (SXL) announcement on Monday that it would acquire its owner Energy Transfer Partners LP in an all-stock deal, as it remains unclear how the new entity will deal with distributions, debt and growth once the deal closes.

Houston-based Ranger Energy Services LLC agreed Wednesday to acquire privately held Bayou Workover Services LLC, a combination that would expand the customer base and its offerings in the U.S. onshore workover services market.