Strathcona to Buy Greenfire in Deal Worth Up to C$2.9 Billion

Greenfire shareholders can choose C$11 a share in cash or 0.25 of a Strathcona share for each Greenfire share, which the companies valued at about C$9.09. The cash offer is a 39% premium to Greenfire’s last closing price; the estimated stock offer represents a 15% premium. Depending on shareholder choices, Strathcona expects to issue about 43 million to 60 million shares and pay up to roughly C$740 million in cash. The valuation includes about C$550 million of Greenfire debt.

Greenfire shares rose 38% to $7.72 in premarket trading Monday in New York. The stock had gained 37% so far this year on the Toronto Stock Exchange and 60% over the past 12 months.

The combined company would have a market value of up to C$10 billion. Strathcona expects production to reach 260,000 barrels a day, compared with combined year-to-date production of 153,000 barrels a day in 2026. The business would hold more than 3 billion barrels of proved plus probable reserves across the McMurray, Clearwater and Mannville formations, spanning all three major oil sands deposits.

Strathcona said the merger would provide a faster growth profile than larger oil sands operators and a lower-risk asset base than smaller companies. It would also remain an oil-only business, the sole oil sands operator in Western Canada without natural gas or downstream operations. The company expects about C$75 million in annual run-rate benefits within the first year, citing lower borrowing costs, procurement efficiencies and the elimination of duplicated public-company costs. Greenfire’s C$2.8 billion in tax pools are expected to extend Strathcona’s cash-tax horizon to 2031 from 2027 and generate about C$400 million in expected cash-tax savings over four years.

Strathcona said Greenfire’s current leadership team is expected to continue managing the assets’ day-to-day operations within a new business unit. Greenfire completed a C$1.28 billion cash purchase of Connacher Oil & Gas in August, adding an oil sands project expected to average about 19,500 barrels a day this year. Strathcona ended its pursuit of MEG Energy last year after Cenovus Energy raised its competing offer.