Matador Resources closes $1.255 billion purchase of Paloma Permian
The deal adds about 16,500 net acres in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico, plus more than 156 drilling locations and 59 approved permits
Published
Chart: MTDR, one-minute prices, three sessions
Matador Resources has completed its acquisition of Paloma Permian LLC, a portfolio company of EnCap Investments, for $1.255 billion in cash, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. The deal took effect October 1, 2026.
Chairman and CEO Joseph Wm. Foran said Matador expects to pay down its reserves-based lending credit facility by $350 to $400 million in the fourth quarter, once both the Paloma deal and the pending Ridge Runner Resources acquisition have closed. Ridge Runner is expected to close later this month.
The Paloma purchase extends a run of bolt-on Permian deals that has reshaped Matador's balance sheet this year, adding $1.255 billion in new debt-funded acreage on top of the Ridge Runner deal still to close. Paying down the credit facility by $350 to $400 million after both deals close would mean leaning on the credit line now and counting on near-term cash flow or asset sales to bring debt back down, a pattern that has become common among mid-cap Permian operators as they consolidate undeveloped acreage. The added drilling locations and permits matter more for Matador's production trajectory over the next several years than for any immediate operational change. How quickly the credit facility actually comes down will show whether this deal strains the balance sheet or simply resets it.