Bonanza Creek, HighPoint close merger

DENVER — Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. (NYSE: BCEI) closed its merger with HighPoint Resources Corp. this month, marking a consolidation that creates the sixth-largest producer of fossil fuel energy in Weld County.

The two Denver-based energy companies consummated their merger on April 1. In a note to investors, the new Bonanza said it intends to spend between $150 million and $170 million this year on capital expenditures, a line item usually denoting new drilling or well activity, and expects to drill between 40,000 to 44,000 barrels of oil per day through the rest of 2021.

The company solely operates in the Wattenberg Field, a subset of the Denver-Julesburg Basin that spreads across Northern Colorado and parts of Wyoming.

Bonanza and HighPoint first announced the merger last November, which would have exchanged two long-term debt notes held by HighPoint investors for Bonanza stock and unsecured debt. Only 93% of the Highpoint’s debt holders agreed to the deal versus the 97.5% that was required to consummate the deal, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February, which led the company to declare bankruptcy.

The Delaware Bankruptcy Court allowed the two companies to merge as part of HighPoint’s reorganization.

The combined outputs of the companies in Weld County 2020 were 15.17 million barrels and 58.46 million MCF, according to data from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

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