Freehold Royalties Announces Closing of Strategic Midland Basin Acquisition, Credit Facility Increase and Declares Dividend for December 2024
December 13 2024 - 11:43AM
Freehold Royalties Ltd. (Freehold or the Company) (TSX:FRU) is
pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced
transaction to acquire mineral title and royalty interests in the
core of the Midland Basin in Texas (the Acquisition or the Acquired
Assets) for approximately $259 million, net of estimates for
exchange rate, expenses and customary closing adjustments.
Acquisition Highlights:
- 1,500 – 1,600 boe/d of premium
priced, light oil weighted production (~950 bbls/d oil)
- Approximately $37 million in 2025E
net royalty revenue (net of production and ad valorem taxes and
assuming US$70/bbl WTI)
- Provides immediate and expected
increasing future accretion on funds flow per share, free cash flow
per share and total production and oil production per share
Dividend Announcement
The board of directors of Freehold has declared
a monthly dividend of $0.09 per share to be paid on January 15,
2025, to shareholders of record on December 31, 2024. The dividend
is designated as an eligible dividend for Canadian income tax
purposes.
Credit Facility Increase
In connection with the Acquisition, Freehold
increased its credit facilities by $50 million to $450 million. The
committed revolving credit facility increased from $380 million to
$430 million while the operating facility remained unchanged at $20
million. The agreement also carries an option to increase the
revolving facility by an additional $50 million, subject to the
consent of the lenders.
Freehold is uniquely positioned as a leading
North American energy royalty company with approximately 6.1
million gross acres in Canada and approximately 1.2 million gross
drilling acres in the United States. Freehold’s common shares trade
on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada under the symbol FRU.
For further information
contact
Freehold
Royalties Ltd. |
Todd McBride, CPA, CMAInvestor Relationst. 403.221.0833e.
tmcbride@freeholdroyalties.comw. www.freeholdroyalties.com |
Nick Thomson, CFAInvestor Relationst. 403.221.0874e.
nthomson@freeholdroyalties.comw. www.freeholdroyalties.com |
|
|
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release offers our assessment of
Freehold’s future plans and operations as at December 13, 2024 and
contains forward-looking information including, without limitation,
forward-looking information with regards to Freehold's estimates
for 2025 production for the Acquired Assets and net royalty revenue
(net of production and ad valorem taxes) for 2025; the expected
attributes and benefits to be derived by Freehold pursuant to the
Acquisition; and the future performance of the Acquired Assets
following the completion of the Acquisition.
This forward-looking information is provided to
allow readers to better understand our business and prospects and
may not be suitable for other purposes. By its nature,
forward-looking information is subject to numerous risks and
uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control, including the
demand for oil and natural gas, general economic conditions,
industry conditions, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the
Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah conflict on the global economy and commodity
prices, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations,
imprecision of reserve estimates, royalties, environmental risks,
taxation, regulation, changes in tax or other legislation,
competition from other industry participants, the lack of
availability of qualified personnel or management, stock market
volatility, our ability to access sufficient capital from internal
and external sources. Risks are described in more detail in
Freehold’s annual information form for the year ended December 31,
2023 which is available under Freehold’s profile on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca.
With respect to forward looking information
contained in this press release including relating to the 2025
forecast production and 2025 royalty revenue from the Acquired
Assets, we have made assumptions regarding, among other things;
future oil and natural gas prices (for the purposes of the
estimates in this press release we have assumed a West Texas
Intermediate price of US$70/barrel of oil and a NYMEX natural gas
price of US$3.30/MMbtu); future exchange rates (for the purposes of
the estimates in this press release we have assumed an exchange
rate of US$1.00 for every CDN$1.40); that drilled uncompleted wells
will be completed in the short term and brought on production; that
wells that have been permitted will be drilled and completed within
a customary timeframe; expectations as to additional wells to be
permitted, drilled, completed and brought on production in 2024 and
2025 based on Freehold's review of the geology and economics of the
plays associated with the Acquired Assets; expected production
performance of wells to be drilled and/or brought on production in
2024 and 2025; the ability of our royalty payors to obtain
equipment in a timely manner to carry out development activities;
the ability and willingness of royalty payors to fund development
activities relating to the Acquired Assets; and such other
assumptions as are identified herein. You are cautioned that the
assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although
considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be
imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on
forward looking information. We can give no assurance that any of
the events anticipated will transpire or occur, or if any of them
do, what benefits we will derive from them. The forward-looking
information contained herein is expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement. To the extent any guidance or forward-looking
statements herein constitute future-oriented financial information
or financial outlook, they are included herein to provide readers
with an understanding of management's plans and assumptions for
budgeting purposes and readers are cautioned that the information
may not be appropriate for other purposes and is prepared as of the
date hereof. Our policy for updating forward-looking statements is
to update our key operating assumptions quarterly and, except as
required by law, we do not undertake to update any other
forward-looking statements. You are further cautioned that the
preparation of financial statements in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards requires management to
make certain judgments and estimates that affect the reported
amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses. These
estimates may change, having either a positive or negative effect
on net income, as further information becomes available and as the
economic environment changes.
Currency
All references in this press release to dollar
amounts are to Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.
Conversion of Natural Gas to Barrels of
Oil Equivalent (BOE)
To provide a single unit of production for
analytical purposes, natural gas production and reserves volumes
are converted mathematically to equivalent barrels of oil (boe). We
use the industry-accepted standard conversion of six thousand cubic
feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil (6 Mcf = 1 bbl). The 6:1
boe ratio is based on an energy equivalency conversion method
primarily applicable at the burner tip. It does not represent a
value equivalency at the wellhead and is not based on either energy
content or current prices. While the boe ratio is useful for
comparative measures and observing trends, it does not accurately
reflect individual product values and might be misleading,
particularly if used in isolation. As well, given that the value
ratio, based on the current price of crude oil to natural gas, is
significantly different from the 6:1 energy equivalency ratio,
using a 6:1 conversion ratio may be misleading as an indication of
value.
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