Although it’s not official quite yet, Santa Maria Energy has agreed to merge with a company known as the Hyde Park Acquisition Corp. II, out of Delaware.
Bob Poole, Santa Maria Energy’s public and government affairs manager, said the paperwork will take another week or two, so the company can’t talk about the details of the merger just yet. The announcement was made on Dec. 4 and sent out through PR Newswire.
What Poole did say is that Santa Maria Energy will be the resulting parent company of the merger, and it will continue to be headquartered in Santa Maria.
“We believe completion of this merger and access to the public equity markets will enable Santa Maria Energy to execute on its development plans, and in particular its project in the Orcutt [oil] field that was recently approved by the [Santa Barbara County] Board of Supervisors,” Poole wrote in an e-mail to the Sun.
The Board of Supervisors approved a well-expansion project for the company’s existing 25-well pilot project site located southwest of Orcutt. The site will end up with 135 wells pulling oil out of the Orcutt Oil Field through a process called cyclic steam injection, which essentially injects piping hot steam into the earth intended to loosen up oil from its deposits in the Monterey Shale formation.
“Santa Maria Energy management will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations following the merger,” Poole said.
Information about Hyde Park Acquisition Corp. II listed on the New York Times website describes the corporation as a “blank check company.”
“It was formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization, or other similar business combination with one or more target businesses,” the description on the website says.
The PR Newswire press release said that Hyde Park’s board of directors determined that merging with the energy company was in the best interest of the company’s shareholders.
“The board believes the oil resources owned by [Santa Maria Energy] together with its track record as an operator engaged in the development and production of oil and natural gas in Northern Santa Barbara County provide Hyde Park shareholders with an investment opportunity with considerable upside potential,” the release stated.
The transaction is anticipated to close during the second quarter of 2014.
This article appears in Dec 12-19, 2013.