History
Matador grew from a Permian driller into a large Delaware Basin producer through two billion-dollar acquisitions and a third agreed, funded by debt and share sales, while raising its dividend from $0.025 to $0.375.
2017-2018: Funding the growth
The record opens in February 2017, when Matador formed San Mateo Midstream, LLC with Five Point Capital Partners. Matador put in its Wolf and Rustler Breaks midstream assets, valued at $350 million, plus $5.1 million cash for 51%. Five Point put in $176.4 million cash for 49%, most of which was paid straight back to Matador to reimburse spending already made. It was Matador's first major midstream joint venture and a way to turn infrastructure it had already built into cash.
Matador then turned to shareholders. In October 2017 it sold 8 million shares at $26.09, raising about $209 million to scale up its Permian Basin drilling. In May 2018 it sold another 7 million shares, with estimated gross proceeds of about $229.3 million. Shares on issue rose from 99.5 million at the end of 2016 to 108.5 million at the end of 2017.
Debt was reshaped too. In August 2018 Matador sold $750 million of 5.875% senior notes due 2026 to buy back its 6.875% notes due 2023, giving a lower rate and a longer maturity. In October it added $300 million to the same notes, taking them to $1.05 billion, and used the money to pay down its revolving credit facility (a bank line it can borrow against and repay). In November the facility was enlarged to a $1.5 billion maximum size with an $850 million borrowing base, and its maturity was pushed to October 2023.
2019-2022: Paying a dividend
The record is quiet for 2019 and 2020. Activity picked up in February 2021, when Matador adopted a dividend policy and declared its first quarterly cash dividend, $0.025 per share. In October 2021 it doubled this to $0.05, the first raise since the payout began. A month later it signed a Fourth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement that lifted the borrowing base to $1.35 billion, kept the elected commitment at $700 million and extended maturity to October 2026. In July 2022 the dividend doubled again, to $0.10 per share, its second doubling in under a year.
2023-2024: Two billion-dollar deals
In January 2023 Matador agreed to buy Advance Energy Partners Holdings for $1.6 billion cash, plus contingent payments of $7.5 million a month in 2023 whenever WTI oil averages above $85. The deal added about 18,500 net acres, 99% held by production, next to Matador's Ranger area in Lea County, New Mexico. In February the dividend rose 50% to $0.15.
To pay for it, Matador raised its credit facility's elected commitment from $775 million to $1.25 billion, moved its agent bank from Royal Bank of Canada to Truist Bank, and in April sold $500 million of 6.875% senior notes due 2028, upsized from a planned $400 million. The acquisition closed on 12 April for an adjusted price of about $1.598 billion, less than three months after signing. In October the borrowing base went to $2.5 billion and the dividend rose 33% to $0.20.
In March 2024 Matador sold $900 million of 6.500% notes due 2032 and tendered for its 2026 notes, completing the refinancing in April. It also sold 5.25 million shares at $65.65, raising about $345 million. Shares on issue rose from 119.5 million at the end of 2023 to 125.0 million at the end of 2024.
In June 2024 Matador agreed to buy Ameredev Stateline II for $1.905 billion cash. The deal added properties and undeveloped acreage in Lea County, New Mexico and Loving and Winkler Counties, Texas, plus a stake of roughly 19% in Pinon Midstream, LLC. It closed in September at an adjusted $1.832 billion, funded partly by a new $250 million term loan and a revolver commitment raised to $2.25 billion. Total credit facility borrowings reached $1.865 billion. Matador then sold $750 million of 6.250% notes due 2033 to term out that debt, netting about $736 million. In October the dividend rose to $0.25.
2025-2026: Higher payouts and a third deal
The dividend kept rising: to $0.3125 in April 2025, a 25% increase, and to $0.375 in October 2025, up 20% and equal to $1.50 a year. In February 2026 Matador priced $750 million of 6.000% senior notes due 2034, which closed in March and netted about $737 million.
On 24 July 2026 Matador agreed to buy Paloma Permian for $1.275 billion cash, its third billion-dollar-plus Delaware Basin acquisition in under four years. The deal adds producing properties and undeveloped acreage in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico, and is backed by a representation-and-warranty insurance policy instead of seller indemnities. As of that date it had not closed.
Written from the 31 story beats below (2017 to 24 July 2026), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.