KKR to buy oil company Samson for $7.2 billion

Private equity firm KKR & Co. LP and three partners say they have agreed to buy the privately held oil and gas company Samson Investment Co. for $7.2 billion

In the deal announced Wednesday, KKR and its partners will get access to oil and gas assets in booming shale regions in the U.S., including shale formations that contain large amounts of oil and other liquid hydrocarbons.

Samson’s wells in the deep water Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf Coast are not included in the deal.

KKR’s partners include the investment firms Natural Gas Partners and Crestview Partners and the Japanese oil and gas company Itochu Corp. Samson is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Financial details, including how much each partner is paying and whether they are paying in cash, stock or a combination, were not disclosed.