Antero Resources soars in debut on NYSE

[October 11, 2013]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of oil and natural gas company Antero Resources Corp. soared in its trading debut.

The stock added $8.15, or 18.5 percent, to $52.15 in midday trading Thursday after rising as high as $55.02 earlier.

Antero priced its initial public offering of approximately 35.7 million shares at $44 each. That is above the 30 million shares the company originally said it was going to offer, and the pricing tops the $38 to $42 per share projected price range given in September.

Antero raised about $1.57 billion in the offering.

The selling stockholder is giving the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 3.4 million shares to cover any excess demand. The company is giving the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 1.9 million shares.

Denver-based Antero said that it plans to use net proceeds to repay outstanding borrowings under its credit facility. It won't receive any proceeds from shares sold by the selling stockholder.

The shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the "AR" ticker symbol.

The offering is expected to close on Wednesday.

[Associated Press]

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