Diamondback Energy Inc. launched a debt offering on May 18 to fund the purchase of notes it acquired through its multibillion-dollar merger with Energen Corp. in 2018.

The Midland, Texas-based shale producer priced $500 million notes due 2025 at 4.75%. Proceeds will be used to fund a cash tender offer that commenced May 18 for the purchase of Energen’s 4.625% notes due 2021.

In 2018, Diamondback built onto its position in the Permian Basin through the acquisition of Energen. The all-stock transaction valued at roughly $9.2 billion included the assumption by Diamondback of about $830 million in debt.

In a company release, Diamondback said Energen had $400 million of the notes outstanding as of May 15.

The debt financing shouldn’t be a surprising answer for questions regarding plans for funding to support the cash tender offer, according to analysts with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) which estimates Diamondback will have “free cash flow neutral spending for the foreseeable future.”

“Transaction altogether speaks to [Diamondback Energy’s] ability to refinance in the current environment, and leaves a solid gap between now and the company’s next meaningful maturity,” the analysts wrote in a May 19 research note.

Diamondback’s next maturity, per TPH, is $1 billion notes due 2024, priced at 2.875% last November.

Additional potential uses of proceeds from the $500 million debt offering include the repayment of a portion of its outstanding credit facility borrowings and general corporate purposes.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are joint book-running managers for the offering.

The tender offer for the Energen notes will expire on May 22. The debt offering is not contingent on the closing of the tender offer, Diamondback said.

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