Matador to Buy Paloma Permian in $1.275 Billion All-Cash Deal
The acquisition would expand Matador’s Delaware Basin position and is expected to add production, reserves and operating efficiencies.
Matador Resources Company (MTDR) agreed to acquire Paloma Permian LLC for $1.275 billion in cash, expanding the oil-and-gas producer’s asset base in the Delaware Basin. The transaction extends Matador’s strategy of adding Permian properties that can be folded into its existing operating footprint and infrastructure.
The companies expect the acquisition to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Matador didn’t disclose a per-acre valuation or other consideration beyond the all-cash purchase price. The closing timetable gives the company the balance of the year to prepare the Paloma assets for integration into its operating plan.
The acquisition will contribute to cash-flow generation while delivering efficiency gains, higher oil and natural-gas production and reserve growth. Management drew a link to previous transactions involving EnCap Investments and its portfolio companies, where Matador has sought to combine acquired acreage with its established Delaware Basin operations.
“Matador is excited to announce this catalyst and the expansion of our Delaware Basin asset base with these assets from Paloma, a successful and respected exploration firm in the Permian Basin and other oil and gas areas. Similar to Matador’s previous transactions with EnCap, and its portfolio companies, we anticipate this acquisition will be integrated efficiently into Matador’s operating plan, contribute to Matador’s cash flow generation and deliver significant efficiency gains, increases in oil and natural gas production, and reserve growth,” founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Joseph Wm. Foran said.
Paloma’s role as a Permian exploration company fits Matador’s focus on enlarging its Delaware Basin position through acquisitions that can be absorbed into its existing organization. Matador cited its Stateline and Rodney Robinson transactions as comparable chapters in that expansion strategy.
The Paloma agreement also followed Matador’s $1.832 billion cash acquisition of Ameredev assets from EnCap affiliates in September 2024. That purchase added about 33,500 net acres, more than 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day of production and 371 net operated locations in the Delaware Basin. By February 2025, Matador estimated that it had captured at least $4 million in drilling-and-completion savings from Ameredev, reduced lease operating expenses on the acquired acreage by more than $2 million a month and identified over $150 million of additional drilling-and-completion savings expected over five years. Those results provide the operating precedent for Matador’s stated expectation that Paloma can be integrated efficiently, with the fourth-quarter closing serving as the next step in translating the acquisition into production, reserves and cash flow.