Key Highlights

  • EQT (NYSE:EQT) will acquire Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) in an all-stock deal at 0.987 EQT shares per Range share.
  • EQT shareholders are expected to own about 73% of the combined company and Range holders about 27%.
  • The companies target $325 million of base annual synergies within two years and more than $600 million long term.
  • Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) and Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) announced on 26 October 2026 a definitive merger agreement under which EQT will acquire Range in an all-stock transaction. The companies describe the combination as creating a natural gas producer with a pro forma enterprise value above $50 billion. Both boards approved the agreement unanimously.

Transaction Terms

Each outstanding Range share will be exchanged for 0.987 shares of EQT common stock. After the transaction, existing EQT shareholders are expected to own about 73% of the combined company and Range shareholders about 27%. Closing is expected during the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and clearances, approval by shareholders of both companies and other customary conditions.

Two Range representatives, including its chief executive Dennis Degner, will join EQT's board. EQT's executive team will lead the combined company, with headquarters remaining in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

Combined Operations, Financial Targets and Scheduling

The combined company is expected to have more than 9 billion cubic feet equivalent per day of net production, more than 30 years of inventory across nearly 3 million net acres, and more than 3,700 miles of midstream infrastructure. EQT says the deal improves its unlevered free cash flow breakeven, a non-GAAP measure, to below $2 per MMBtu and expects BBB-quality credit metrics at closing.

The companies expect $325 million of base annual synergies within two years across corporate costs, operations and commodities marketing, with a pathway to more than $600 million over the longer term. At recent strip pricing, cumulative free cash flow is projected at about $20 billion over five years.

EQT describes the combined company as vertically integrated, with upstream and midstream operations focused on the Appalachian Basin and headquarters in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Advisers on the transaction were Citi and RBC Capital Markets for EQT and Evercore and J.P. Morgan for Range, with Kirkland & Ellis and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher serving as legal counsel respectively.

EQT and Range will hold a joint call on 26 October at 8:00 a.m. ET. Both companies cancelled their previously scheduled third-quarter earnings calls for 28 October but will still publish third-quarter results after the market close on 27 October.

Why This Could Matter

The transaction changes ownership, scale and reporting for both companies. Range holders would receive shares rather than cash and hold a 27% stake in the larger entity, while EQT would add acreage, production and midstream assets. The synergy and free cash flow figures are company projections tied to specific pricing assumptions, and closing depends on approvals from regulators and from both shareholder groups.

The all-stock structure means no cash is paid by EQT, and the 0.987 exchange ratio sets the share split of roughly 73% to 27%. The release states that the unlevered free cash flow breakeven is measured as the average Henry Hub price needed to generate positive unlevered free cash flow, and the projected cumulative free cash flow depends on recent strip pricing.

The Bottom Line

EQT has agreed to combine with Range through a 0.987 exchange ratio, with a first-quarter 2027 target for completion. The announcement sets out production, acreage, synergy and free cash flow targets for the combined company.