EQT to Buy Range Resources in All-Stock Deal, Creating Major Appalachian Gas Producer

EQT Corp. has agreed to buy Range Resources in an all-stock merger that would create one of the largest natural-gas producers in the United States, the latest sign of rapid consolidation in Appalachia as drillers prepare for rising demand from liquefied natural gas exports and domestic power use.

The companies said Tuesday that they entered into a definitive merger agreement dated Oct. 25 and announced the deal Oct. 26. EQT, a major Appalachian gas producer based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, said the combined company would have a pro forma enterprise value above $50 billion. Range Resources, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is a prominent Marcellus and Utica gas and natural-gas-liquids producer.

Under the agreement, each outstanding Range share will be converted into the right to receive 0.987 shares of EQT common stock, with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. After the deal closes, existing EQT shareholders are expected to own about 73% of the combined company and Range shareholders about 27%, on a fully diluted basis.

Based on the exchange ratio and EQT’s share price around the announcement, news services calculated an implied equity value for Range of roughly $12.8 billion to $12.9 billion, or about $54.91 per share. That represented about a 20.6% premium to Range’s previous closing price. Because the transaction is stock-for-stock, that figure is a market-implied valuation rather than a cash purchase price.

The companies said the tie-up would create a business with more than 9 billion cubic feet equivalent per day of net production, more than 30 years of inventory, nearly 3 million net acres and more than 3,700 miles of midstream infrastructure. EQT also said it expects about $325 million in base annual synergies within two years, with a longer-term path to more than $600 million. Those figures are company projections.

“This transaction brings together two of the highest-quality, longest-duration asset bases in North America and creates a company uniquely positioned for the next era of natural gas,” Toby Z. Rice, EQT’s president and CEO, said in the companies’ joint release.

The companies expect the merger to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to approval by both companies’ shareholders, regulatory approvals including expiration or clearance of antitrust waiting periods under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, approval by the New York Stock Exchange for the EQT shares to be issued, and other customary closing conditions.

After closing, EQT said its board will expand to 12 directors and add Range CEO Dennis L. Degner and one additional Range designee. EQT’s management team will lead the combined company, which will remain headquartered in Canonsburg.

The deal adds to a broader consolidation wave in U.S. natural gas. Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy completed their merger in October 2024 to form Expand Energy, and Devon Energy completed its all-stock merger with Coterra in May 2026.

Appalachia remains central to that strategy because it is one of the country’s most important gas-producing regions. Producers have increasingly pointed to demand growth from LNG exports and domestic uses including power generation and data centers. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s October 2026 outlook showed continued growth in LNG exports and gas feedgas demand.

Investors initially reacted along familiar lines for a stock deal: Range shares rose on the announcement while EQT shares fell, according to market reports, reflecting the premium offered to Range holders and concerns among some EQT investors about dilution. Even so, the transaction underscores how producers are betting that greater scale in Appalachia will matter as the U.S. gas market grows.