Another Deal Unveiled By Vanguard Natural Resources

Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC VNR agreed to acquire Eagle Rock Energy Partners, L.P. EROC in a deal valued at $614 million.

Vanguard, with a market cap of $1.44 billion, agreed last month to acquire LRR Energy LP LRE in a cash and stock deal valued at $539 million with both deals now expected to close in the third quarter.

Vanguard gained about 1.9 percent Friday, recently trading at $16.80.

Eagle shareholders will receive $474 common Vanguard units in a tax-free exchange and Vanguard will take on Eagle's debt of $140 million in the deal.

Vanguard said the deal values Eagle units at $3.05 a piece, a 24 percent premium to Eagle's closing price Thursday.

Vanguard paid a 19 percent premium for LRR's partnership units on the day the earlier deal got announced.

Vanguard Chief Executive Scott W. Smith characterized the Eagle acquisition as a "bolt-on" to Vanguard's Mid-Continent, Permian and Gulf Coast basin operations.

Eagle Rock's operations in both the SCOOP and STACK plays in the Oklahoma region "will provide attractive drilling opportunities for the next several years," Smith said.

Shareholders of Eagle, LRR and Vanguard will "jointly reap the value growth in an improving commodity price cycle," Smith said.