Targa Resources said that it will pay $3.55 billion in cash to buy Lucid Energy Group, a natural gas processor in the Permian Basin, from private equity firm Riverstone Holdings and Goldman Sachs.
Why it matters: U.S. shale, particularly in the highly productive Permian, is one of the merger market's only bright spots, with strategic buyers buoyed by climbing commodity prices and strengthened balance sheets.
Caveat: Overall energy and power deal activity is down 24% year-to-date, per new data from Refinitiv.
Details, per the Dallas Morning News: "The deal will give Houston-based Targa an additional 1,050 miles of pipelines and new processing capacity at a time of record-high natural gas prices."