Chesapeake to Buy US Gas Rival Southwestern for $7.4 Billion

Chesapeake Energy Corp. reached an agreement to acquire rival Southwestern Energy Co. for $7.4 billion through a deal that would create one of the largest US natural gas producers.

Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake will pay $6.69 per share, it said Thursday in a statement.

The acquisition positions Chesapeake ahead of its biggest rival, EQT Corp., in terms of gas production and expand its holdings in two key drilling regions: the Marcellus basin in Appalachia and the Haynesville basin straddling Louisiana and east Texas. It comes as US oil and gas producers are increasingly buying up competitors in an effort ...