History
Dorchester Minerals was formed in 2003 by combining three royalty partnerships, then grew by buying mineral and royalty interests for newly issued units, culminating in a 2024 deal that gave a seller the right to a seat on the general partner's board.
2002-2003: Three partnerships become one
The story began in May 2002, when Dorchester Hugoton, Republic Royalty and Spinnaker Royalty filed to combine into a new partnership, Dorchester Minerals, L.P., to be listed on Nasdaq as DMLP. Former Hugoton holders were to receive about 40% of the new units, Republic holders about 40% and Spinnaker holders about 20%. An August amendment kept the terms unchanged, putting Dorchester Hugoton's share at about 39.73% (one new unit per depositary receipt), and added Dorchester Minerals Operating LP as a party to the combination agreement. By October the swap for the two private partnerships was quantified: their limited partners would take units worth 96% of enterprise value, and their general partners the remaining 4%. Dorchester Hugoton unitholders approved the deal by an 81% vote in January 2003, the other partners also approved, and the combination closed on January 31, 2003.
2004-2010: Buying with units
The new partnership grew by acquiring mineral and royalty interests, mostly paying in newly issued common units rather than cash. Its first acquisition came on September 30, 2004, when it merged with Bradley Royalty Partners, LLC, gaining perpetual interests across 104 counties and parishes in six states for 1,200,000 units. On June 30, 2009 it bought about 1,820 acres of Barnett Shale land in Tarrant County, Texas, for 1,600,000 units plus contributed cash, with the sellers barred from selling their new units for at least a year. On March 31, 2010 it bought Maecenas Minerals, L.L.P., with interests in 17 states, for 835,000 units. The record then goes quiet until 2017.
2017-2022: Permian, Oklahoma and a new round of deals
On June 30, 2017, the company closed a roughly $24 million purchase of Permian Basin interests in six Texas counties from DSD Royalty, LLC and its participants, who included Vice Chairman James E. Raley and COO Bradley Ehrman. The participants took half the deal, paying the cash portion and receiving units at $14.98 each. In March 2019 it bought Oklahoma mineral and royalty interests, plus a 96.97% net profits interest in related working interests, from H. Huffman & Co. and The Buffalo Co., for 2,400,000 units and about $1.17 million in contributed cash. Units outstanding reached 34,679,774 at the end of that year. The record for 2020 is quiet. Agreement was reached in November 2021 to buy interests in 27 counties across four states from Gemini 5 Thirty, LP for 1,580,000 units, and that deal closed on January 3, 2022.
2024-2025: The largest deal
On September 16, 2024 the company agreed to its largest deal yet: about 14,500 net royalty acres in 14 New Mexico and Texas counties from West Texas Minerals and the Carrollton Mineral Partners fund family, for 6,721,144 units. For the first time, an outside contributor was to receive a seat on the general partner's governing board, for as long as it held at least 1,000,000 units. The deal closed on September 30, 2024, with the general partner's parent's members agreeing to vote for one Carrollton-designated manager. The deal issued 6,721,144 units, and units on issue rose from 39,583,243 at the end of 2023 to 47,339,756 at the end of 2024. As of the latest record, on November 12, 2025, the company remained a unit-funded acquirer of mineral and royalty interests.
Written from the 14 story beats below (2002 to 30 Sept 2024), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.