April 6, 2010 (FinancialWire) — SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) and Arena Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ARD) said they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Arena shareholders will receive stock and cash consideration valued at $40 per share of Arena common stock based on SandRidge's April 1 closing price.

The price represents a 17% premium for Arena shareholders. SandRidge said it will issue 4.7771 shares of SandRidge common stock and pay $2.50 in cash for each share of Arena common stock, resulting in a combined enterprise value of around $6.2 billion.

SandRidge will be the surviving company, headquartered in Oklahoma City and its management team will continue in their current roles.

According to SandRidge, the deal positions the firm as one of the largest producers of West Texas conventional oil and gas. The oil opportunities will come primarily from drilling and development of shallow, low risk reservoirs located on the Central Basin Platform, a part of the Permian Basin in West Texas.

Oklahoma-based SandRidge Energy is an oil and natural gas company whose principal focus on exploration and production. SandRidge and its subsidiaries also own and operate gas gathering and processing facilities and CO2 treating and transportation facilities and conduct marketing and tertiary oil recovery operations.

In addition, Lariat Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SandRidge, owns and operates a drilling rig and related oil field services business. SandRidge focuses its exploration and production activities in West Texas, the Permian Basin, the Mid-Continent, the Cotton Valley Trend in East Texas, the Gulf Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico.

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