OKC’s Roan Resources becomes publicly traded
Oklahoma City-based Roan Resources Inc. became publicly traded Tuesday, marking the end of its yearlong transition to become its own company.
The shares gained 25 cents, or nearly 1.5 percent, Tuesday to close at $17.50 on the overthe-counter market. Roan executives said the company will move up to the New York Stock Exchange by the end of the year.
“This has been a long process to get to this point, but it’s been a lot of fun,” CEO Tony Maranto said in an interview with The Oklahoman on Tuesday.
“This is a very important step for us. It is the culmination of our year-one goal for the company. From this point, our goal is to launch off and see how much value we can add.”
Roan Resources was created last year with the combination of Tulsa-based Citizen Energy II and part of Houston-based Linn Energy, which had recently emerged from bankruptcy reorganization. Another portion of Linn
Energy last month spun off as Riviera Resources Inc.
Roan Resources on Monday completed a reverse merger with Linn, taking over its over-thecounter stock. Roan then changed the stock symbol to “ROAN.”
“We have a clean balance sheet,” Maranto said. “By taking it public, we have the ability to do a lot with the company. This was the first step in that process.”
Merge operations
Roan Resources controls about 117,000 acres of the Merge play southwest of Oklahoma City. With eight rigs, the company is the state’s second most active driller behind Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources Inc.
“We love this part of the Merge.” Maranto said. “We have a very contiguous footprint in the Merge, and we plan to grow it.”
So far this year, the company has brought online 34 new wells. Executives have said they expect the company to complete another 30 wells by the end of the year.
“Our goal is to continue to be a pure-play Merge basin operator,” Maranto said. “We’re not looking outside the basin, but there is the potential of acquisitions inside the Merge we hope to take advantage of as long as we can make the acquisition at the right price and at the right time. I think there are opportunities to grow the company.”
Roan Resources has grown from zero to 170 employees over the past year and is likely to continue expanding, Maranto said. The company is housed in Linn Energy’s former northwest Oklahoma City office.
“I like the northwest Oklahoma City side of town,” Maranto said. “We will outgrow this space at some point, but the company will stay in Oklahoma City.”
When Maranto joined Roan Resources last year, he insisted it be housed in Oklahoma City, he said.
“The Merge is so close to Oklahoma City it gives our employees a chance to be on location,” Maranto said. “Oklahoma City is such a huge high-end talent pool, it made all the sense in the world to headquarter in Oklahoma City.”