Chesapeake buys Bronco

Article Excerpt

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY $29.95 (New York symbol CHK; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (405-848-8000; www.chkenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 657.7 million; Market cap: $19.7 billion; Dividend yield: 1.0%) has agreed to buy Bronco Drilling, an oil-drilling services company, for $316.8 million in cash. Chesapeake is Bronco’s second-biggest customer. Adding Bronco moves Chesapeake closer to its goal of owning about two-thirds of the rigs it operates. Bronco owns 22 onshore rigs, three of which are currently under contract to Chesapeake. After the purchase, Bronco’s rigs will be operated by Chesapeake’s Nomac Drilling subsidiary. Right now, Chesapeake is operating a total of 160 drilling rigs. It plans to have about 200 rigs in operation by the end of 2012. Chesapeake is still a buy. buy…