“BMO helped us create a
faster, stronger company.”

Last July, Houston-based Petrohawk Energy acquired KCS Energy Inc., creating one of the largest independent onshore oil and gas producers in North America. The deal began six months earlier, when representatives from BMO Capital Markets’ Houston office proposed the merger to the leadership team at Petrohawk. “We had actually considered this merger before,” recalls Floyd Wilson. “But we saw no way to make it work until BMO brought all the pieces together.” According to Wilson, BMO’s proposal that Petrohawk and KCS would be stronger together has proved prescient: “BMO helped us create a faster, stronger company.” As for the future, Wilson says he’s looking for BMO to stay close as Petrohawk grows.

Charlie Prioleau, from BMO Capital Markets’ Houston office, was part of the team representing Petrohawk in the US$1.9 billion deal, the largest U.S. merger and acquisition transaction in BMO’s history. “We were in the enviable position of having strong relationships with management at both companies involved in the merger,” says Prioleau. “That enabled our deal team to not only identify strong synergies between the two companies, but also structure a transaction proposal that we knew both companies would embrace.” Knowledge and experience were not the only assets BMO brought to the table. Adds Prioleau, “As well as the support of professionals from across BMO Capital Markets, we put the strength of our balance sheet behind the deal on several occasions.”