Former EnerVest Affiliate to Sell Remaining Assets, Pay Back Shareholders

Harvest Oil & Gas Corp. landed an agreement on July 8 to sell its remaining assets as the Houston-based independent E&P and former affiliate of EnerVest Ltd. aims to begin the process of winding-up and returning capital to its shareholders.

The divestiture includes the sale of its Appalachian Basin position, which Harvest said in a statement will represent “substantially all of the assets of the company.”

Harvest agreed to sell the assets to an unaffiliated third party in exchange for $20.5 million, comprising $14.5 million of cash and a $6 million note. The holders of a majority of the common stock of Harvest have approved the transaction, according to the company’s release.

In May, Harvest voluntarily deregistered its common stock, which had been trading on OTC Market’s OTCQX U.S. Premier Marketplace.

Harvest is a successor company of EV Energy Partners LP, a former affiliate of EnerVest that emerged from bankruptcy in June 2018. EnerVest was not a part of its affiliate’s bankruptcy filing.

From the restructuring, Harvest inherited a multi-basin portfolio including positions in the Permian Basin and Midcontinent region, which it has since sold off, piece by piece. Most recently, the company entered an agreement in March to sell all of its oil and natural gas properties in Michigan for a purchase price of $4.8 million. The transaction was expected to close during the second quarter.

Following closing of the Appalachian Basin asset sale, expected in August, the company said it “intends to evaluate the process of winding-up and of returning capital to its shareholders.” Harvest added the evaluation will be dependent upon an analysis of the net cash available for distribution to its stockholders and the amount of net cash that must be retained to satisfy its ongoing liabilities during the winding-up process.

The Appalachian Basin asset transaction has an effective date of July 1. The definitive agreement contains various representations, warranties, covenants and indemnification obligations of the company and the buyer that are customary in transactions of this type, the company release said.