Deal to create $1.4 billion man camp chain in U.S. shale plays

A three-way deal will create a $1.4 billion chain of specialized housing facilities and man camps targeting oil and gas industry workers in various U.S. shale plays.

Los Angeles-based Platinum Eagle Acquisition Corp. announced Wednesday that it has agreed to buy The Woodlands-based Target Logistics Management and Austin-based RL Signor Holdings for $325 million in cash and $80 million in stock.

The deal is expected to close during first quarter 2019. The combined company will be named Target Hospitality Corp., headquartered in The Woodlands and traded on Nasdaq under a new ticker symbol.

The three-way merger follows a September deal in which Target Logistics took over operations for RL Signor’s man camps for oil and gas workers in Texas.

Once the deal is complete, the combined company will own dozens of full-service and catered man camps in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the SCOOP and STACK area of Oklahoma, and the Bakken Shale of North Dakota. Existing clients include exploration and production companies such as Marathon Oil Corp., Whiting Petroleum Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. as well as services companies such as Schlumberger and Halliburton.

The combined company will not be limited to the oil and gas industry. In addition to the man camps, Target Logistics has a service contract for an immigrant detention center in the South Texas town of Dilley that is managed by private prison company Corrections Corporation of America on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.