Kimmeridge Proposes $6 Billion Bid for Shale Driller Ascent (2)

Kimmeridge Energy Management Co., one of the most active and outspoken US oil and gas investors, has made an unsolicited $6 billion bid to take over closely held Ascent Resources LLC.

“We’re really not agitating here,” Kimmeridge co-founder Ben Dell said in an interview. “What we’re trying to do is put a solution on the table in the best interest of the owners.”

The offer marks the first public salvo as Ascent’s controlling shareholder, Energy and Minerals Group, seeks to create a continuation vehicle — a structure that allows private equity firms to roll assets into a new fund ...