Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Acquisitions

v2.4.1.9
Acquisitions
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Business Combinations [Abstract]  
Acquisitions
ACQUISITIONS

Beginning in February 2011, the Company entered into agreements to acquire certain leasehold interests located in the Utica Shale in Ohio. Certain of the agreements also granted the Company an exclusive right of first refusal for a period of six months to acquire certain additional tracts leased by the seller. Certain entities that, at the time, were affiliates of Gulfport initially participated with the Company on a 50/50 basis in the acquisition of all leases described above. On December 17, 2012, Gulfport entered into a definitive agreement with one of the affiliates to purchase approximately 30,000 net acres in the Utica Shale for approximately $302.0 million. On December 19, 2012, the parties amended that agreement to provide for Gulfport's acquisition of approximately 7,000 additional net acres for approximately $70.0 million, resulting in a total purchase price of approximately $372.0 million, subject to certain adjustments. This transaction closed on December 24, 2012. At closing, approximately $53.9 million of the purchase price was placed in escrow pending completion of title review after the closing. Gulfport funded this acquisition with a portion of the net proceeds from its common stock offering that closed on December 24, 2012 (with a second closing for the underwriters' purchase of 900,000 shares pursuant to their over-allotment option on January 7, 2013). The Company received aggregate net proceeds of approximately $460.7 million from this equity offering, as discussed below in Note 8.

On February 15, 2013, the Company completed an acquisition of approximately 22,000 net acres in the Utica Shale. The purchase price was approximately $220.0 million, subject to certain adjustments. At closing, approximately $33.6 million of the purchase price was placed in escrow pending completion of title review after the closing. Gulfport funded this acquisition with a portion of the net proceeds from its common stock offering that closed on February 15, 2013. The Company received aggregate net proceeds of approximately $325.8 million from this equity offering. All of the acreage included in these transactions was nonproducing at the time of the applicable transaction and the Company is the operator of all of this acreage, subject to existing development and operating agreements between the parties. These acquisitions excluded the seller's interest in 14 existing wells and 16 proposed future wells together with certain acreage surrounding these wells.

In May 2013, both escrow accounts terminated and an aggregate of $10.0 million was returned to the Company. The balance of the escrow accounts was distributed to the seller based on the results of the title review.

In February 2014, the Company entered into a definitive agreement with Rhino Exploration LLC ("Rhino") to acquire additional oil and natural gas properties consisting of approximately 8,000 net acres in the Utica Shale, as well as Rhino's interest in all of the producing wells on this acreage (the "Rhino Acquisition"). The Company purchased approximately $182.0 million ($179.5 million net of purchase price adjustments) of these assets in 2014. The Company recognized $6.4 million of net revenues and $1.0 million of lease operating expenses as a result of the Rhino Acquisition from the closing date of March 20, 2014 through December 31, 2014, which is included in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

The Rhino Acquisition qualified as a business combination for accounting purposes and, as such, the Company estimated the fair value of the acquired properties as of the March 20, 2014 acquisition date. The fair value of the assets and liabilities acquired was estimated using assumptions that represent Level 3 inputs. See "Note 14 - Fair Value Measurements" for additional discussion of the measurement inputs.

The Company estimated that the consideration paid in the Rhino Acquisition for these properties approximated the fair value that would be paid by a typical market participant. As a result, no goodwill or bargain purchase gain was recognized in conjunction with the purchase.

The following table summarizes the consideration paid in the Rhino Acquisition to acquire the properties and the fair value amount of the assets acquired as of March 20, 2014.

 
 
(in thousands)
Consideration paid
 
 
     Cash, net of purchase price adjustments
 
$
179,527

Fair value of identifiable assets acquired
 
 
     Oil and natural gas properties
 
 
       Proved
 
$
31,961

       Unproved
 
6,263

       Unevaluated
 
141,303

Fair value of net identifiable assets acquired
 
$
179,527