Oil and natural gas giant BP will acquire Archaea Energy, the Canonsburg-based renewable natural gas producer that merged last year with a special acquisition corporation formed by the Rice family, in a $4.1 billion deal.
The deal, announced Monday, will see BP (NYSE: BP) pay about $26 a share in cash and take on $800 million in debt when it closes by the end of the year. The companies said some big Archaea shareholders who own 27% of the company will vote in favor of the deal.
Archaea (NYSE: LFG) has only been a publicly traded company for a little more than a year, born when privately held Archaea Energy was acquired along with Aria Energy in a $1 billion special acquisition company deal with Rice Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: RICE) in September 2021. Rice Acquisition was formed by former Rice Energy CEO Daniel Rice IV.