Newhall Land & Farming Seeks to Buy Oil, Gas Firm

Newhall Land & Farming has offered $33 million to acquire Newhall Resources, an oil and gas concern that Newhall Land & Farming spun off four years ago. Both firms have headquarters in Valencia and are limited partnerships whose units are publicly traded.

Newhall Land & Farming, a real estate and agriculture company that is developing Valencia, offered $7.50 for each of Newhall Resources’ 4.4 million units outstanding. The units, trading at $6.25 apiece when the offer was announced last week, closed Monday at $6.63 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Thomas L. Lee, president of Newhall Land & Farming, said the proposed acquisition would accelerate development of the Valencia area. “Through the control of surface access rights relating to undeveloped minerals, we will be able to minimize potential conflicts between development and drilling activity,” he said in a statement.

He also said Newhall Land & Farming did not plan to re-enter the energy business, and would sell Newhall Resources’ producing energy reserves and its mineral rights outside California.