Exxon Mobil Corp. is close to an offer to purchase shale-drilling business Leader Natural Resources for about $60 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday.
Pointing out sources knowledgeable about the matter, the Journal stated the offer might be completed in the coming days. The Journal had actually reported in April that the 2 business had actually held initial talks.
The acquisition would be among the biggest in the U.S. this year, and Exxon’s most significant given that it purchased Mobil in 1999. The Journal kept in mind that Exxon has actually been flush with money given that publishing record revenues in 2015, and is wanting to end up being the dominant gamer in the oil-rich Permian Basin in western Texas and New Mexico.
Exxon has a market cap of about $446 billion, since Thursday, while Leader is valued at about $50 billion.
Exxon shares
XOM,.
have actually fallen about 1% year to date, while Leader.
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stock is down about 6% in 2023, The S&P 500.
SPX,
in contrast, is up about 11% year to date.