EQT to combine with Range Resources in all-stock deal creating a $50B-plus U.S. natural gas leader

EQT agreed on Monday, October 26, to combine with RRC in an all-stock deal that the companies say will create America's leading natural gas company, with a pro forma enterprise value of more than $50 billion. Range holders will receive 0.987 EQT shares for each Range share, leaving EQT's existing shareholders with about 73% of the combined company and Range holders with about 27%.

The $50 billion figure is the combined company's enterprise value, not the price paid for Range: the announcement does not state an equity value or a premium. The market priced the deal quickly. By late morning Range shares were up about 15.8% at $52.72 while EQT was down about 3.3% at $53.82, which leaves Range roughly 0.8% below the $53.12 per share implied by the exchange ratio.

EQT is targeting $325 million of base annual synergies within two years, with a pathway to more than $600 million over the longer term. The combined company would produce more than 9 Bcfe per day across nearly 3 million net acres with over 30 years of inventory, and the companies project about $20 billion of cumulative free cash flow over five years at recent strip prices. EQT management, led by CEO Toby Rice, will run the company from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and Range CEO Dennis Degner joins an expanded 12-member EQT board.

Under the merger agreement, Range would owe EQT a $423 million termination fee in specified circumstances, while EQT would owe Range $1.148 billion. The deal needs regulatory clearance and approval from both sets of shareholders, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. Next up: both companies report third-quarter results after the close on October 27, their first chance to take questions on the deal, followed by antitrust review of a tie-up between two major Appalachian gas producers.