By
Chris
Mathews
Hart Energy

NGP-backed Mesa Royalties III has acquired mineral and royalty interests in the Haynesville Shale from an undisclosed private seller.

The deal continues Mesa Royalties III’s efforts to grow a portfolio of interests in the Haynesville and mid-Bossier targets in north Louisiana and East Texas, the company said in an April 3 press release.

The transaction includes approximately 6,200 net royalty acres across the core of the Haynesville play.

The deal added two net producing wells (253 gross wells) operated by notable Haynesville players including Chesapeake Energy, Southwestern Energy and Aethon Energy.

Mesa III financed the Haynesville acquisition using equity commitments from private equity backer NGP Energy Capital Management LLC.

“We have ample capital available with our recent commitment upsize from NGP and are poised to continue acquiring in both the Haynesville shale play as well as in the Permian basin where our current buying efforts are focused,” said Mesa III President and CEO Darin Zanovich in the release.

Following the latest acquisition, Mesa will own more than 11,000 net royalty acres in the Haynesville play, where the company plans to continue to aggregate and scale its position, Zanovich said.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel for Mesa III’s Haynesville acquisition.

Haynesville hunt, Permian prowl

Zanovich also led Mesa Minerals Partners II LLC, a previous iteration of the minerals and royalties acquisition vehicle backed with $150 million in equity commitments from NGP.

Mesa II was active in 2023: The company sold some of its Haynesville natural gas mineral and royalty assets to WhiteHawk Energy LLC in a $20 million deal announced in August.

Mesa II closed out the year by selling the remainder of its Haynesville assets to gold-and-commodity focused royalty company Franco-Nevada Corp. The $125 million deal had an effective date of Jan. 1.

Mesa III Reloads in Haynesville with Mineral, Royalty M&A
Franco-Nevada Corp. acquired Mesa II’s Haynesville portfolio for $125 million last year, adding interests on the Louisiana side of the shale play. FNV previously purchased Mesa I’s East Texas portfolio. (Source: Franco-Nevada investor presentation)

The Franco-Nevada deal included around 1,400 net acres of Haynesville Shale royalties on the Louisiana side of the border; Franco-Nevada’s existing Haynesville footprint was concentrated in East Texas.

The deal delivered Franco-Nevada additional exposure to Haynesville natural gas, with operators including Chesapeake, Southwestern and Comstock Resources, the company said in first-quarter earnings.

Mesa II’s predecessor, a Quantum Energy Partners portfolio company, also did a deal with Franco-Nevada in late 2020. Mesa Minerals Partners LLC’s royalty portfolio in East Texas, which was assembled in partnership with upstream operator Rockcliff Energy II LLC, sold to Franco-Nevada for $135 million.

Late last year, Rockcliff Energy II sold to Tokyo Gas Co. and partner Castleton Commodities in a $2.7 billion deal.

Mesa Minerals Partners III was formed in 2022 with $250 million in NGP equity commitments. Outside of the Haynesville, Mesa III is actively hunting for mineral and royalty acquisition opportunities on both the Delaware and Midland basins within the Permian Basin.

Onshore