EQT Corporation is buying Range Resources in an all-stock deal valued at $13 billion, forming a combined natural gas company with a pro forma enterprise value of more than $50 billion. The agreement, unanimously approved by both companies' boards, would create a producer pumping more than 9 billion cubic feet equivalent per day from nearly 3 million net acres concentrated in the Appalachian Basin.
Under the terms of the deal, as reported by Forbes, EQT will exchange 0.987 shares of its own stock for every outstanding share of Range common stock. When the dust settles, existing EQT shareholders are expected to hold roughly 73% of the combined company, with Range shareholders left holding the remaining 27%. The transaction, first detailed in a release carried by Morningstar, pairs EQT's upstream and midstream Appalachian operations with Range's natural gas and natural gas liquids production, also centered in the same basin.
A Marcellus Powerhouse Takes Shape
Once combined, the company will control more than 30 years of drilling inventory and over 3,700 miles of midstream infrastructure, according to World Oil. The new entity is projected to generate roughly $20 billion in cumulative free cash flow over the next five years at recent strip pricing, per the same outlet, and is expected to carry BBB-quality credit metrics at closing. The deal also improves EQT's unlevered free cash flow breakeven to below $2 per MMBtu, the Motley Fool reports.
EQT president and CEO Toby Z. Rice said the combination joins high-quality, long-duration North American assets and positions the company for the next era of natural gas. Range president and CEO Dennis L. Degner said the deal offers opportunities to build long-term value that neither operator could fully achieve independently. Range's board determined the transaction enhances Range shareholders' ability to participate in a constructive long-term natural gas and NGL outlook, according to Degner.
Leadership, Headquarters and Closing Timeline
The combined company will be led by EQT's existing management team and headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where EQT is already based. Degner and one other Range representative will join EQT's board once the deal closes. Range is currently headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.
EQT expects the merger to deliver $325 million in annual cost synergies within two years, with a pathway to more than $600 million over the long term from development and infrastructure optimization, per Forbes. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and clearances, shareholder approval from both companies, and other customary closing conditions. EQT intends to file a Form S-4 registration statement with the SEC that will include a joint proxy statement and prospectus for shareholders.
Why Now: LNG Demand and the AI Power Buildout
The merger lands amid what Forbes describes as the general race for consolidation in the U.S. shale business over the past decade, driven in part by rapidly rising demand for U.S. liquefied natural gas from importing nations in Asia and Europe. The Financial Times likewise frames the combination as one set to create the largest natural gas producer in the United States, though that characterization has not been independently verified beyond the companies' own figures.
Separately, the Motley Fool points to a Rabobank estimate suggesting U.S. power demand could surge 20% by 2030, a trend tied to growing electricity needs from data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The federal Energy Information Administration has forecast that Appalachian natural gas production will grow by about 0.3 Bcf/d in 2026 and 0.5 Bcf/d in 2027, even as the agency projects Henry Hub spot prices averaging $3.16 per MMBtu in 2027, a 9% decrease from 2026.
Advisors and Regulatory Path Ahead
Citi and RBC Capital Markets, LLC acted as financial advisors to EQT, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP serving as the company's legal counsel. Evercore served as Range's lead financial advisor and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC also advised Range, while Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is serving as Range's legal counsel.
Large mergers of this size typically trigger review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, which requires parties to file premerger notifications and wait for government clearance before closing, according to the Federal Trade Commission. It remains unclear whether EQT and Range have filed the required notification or how far along that waiting period might be. For now, the deal's fate rests on regulatory sign-off, shareholder votes from both companies, and the other closing conditions outlined in the merger agreement.
