Analysis
As of November 15, 2026, Diamondback Energy is nearing a deal worth roughly $5 billion to buy Double Eagle V, a Texas-based company backed by private equity firm EnCap Investments, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter, as relayed by Reuters via Investing.com. Reuters describes the target as a drilling portfolio. The FT said the deal could be announced as soon as early next week and would be paid in cash and stock. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report, and Diamondback, Double Eagle and EnCap did not respond to requests for comment outside business hours.
Who is Double Eagle and who backs it?
Double Eagle is a Texas-based oil and gas company with drilling assets in the Permian Basin, which spans West Texas and New Mexico. Its backer, EnCap Investments, is a Houston-based private equity firm that has been "a significant source of capital to the upstream sector of the energy industry since 1988," according to EnCap's website. World Oil described Double Eagle as supported by EnCap when the first Diamondback talks surfaced in February 2025. Diamondback is based in Midland, Texas, per Reuters.
How much has Diamondback paid Double Eagle before?
This would be a repeat transaction. In February 2025, Diamondback bought certain Double Eagle units for $4.08 billion in cash and stock, per Reuters. Pipeline & Gas Journal reported at the time that the price was roughly 6.9 million shares and $3 billion in cash, for access to about 40,000 net acres in the core of the Midland Basin.
“In February 2025, Diamondback bought certain Double Eagle units for $4.08 billion in cash and stock, per Reuters.”
When those talks first leaked, World Oil relayed a Wall Street Journal report valuing that deal at more than $5 billion; it signed at $4.08 billion. Leaked talk figures and signed prices do not always match, which is the main caveat on this weekend's $5 billion number.
Value Add VC data
- 2024, acquisition -- Diamondback buys Endeavor Energy for $26 billion (World Oil); Reuters says the deal made it the third-largest Permian producer
- Feb 2025, acquisition -- Diamondback buys certain Double Eagle units for $4.08 billion in cash and stock (Pipeline & Gas Journal)
- Week before Nov 15, 2026, joint deal -- Diamondback and KKR agree to buy Five Point Infrastructure's 70% stake in Deep Blue Midland Basin, a Permian water infrastructure company; no price was given (Reuters via Investing.com)
At the reported $5 billion, Double Eagle V would cost about 23% more than the February 2025 Double Eagle purchase, a Pulse calculation from the two reported prices, and about one-fifth of the Endeavor deal.
What the deal could mean for private-equity exits
If it signs, EnCap will have sold Diamondback two Double Eagle businesses in 21 months. Our read is that this may point to a familiar private-equity route in the basin: a sponsor funds a team to assemble drilling assets, then sells to a nearby producer that already knows the acreage. Diamondback has been an active buyer in that pattern by Reuters' account, moving from Endeavor in 2024 to Double Eagle in 2025 and to the Deep Blue water stake with KKR in the week before this report. Because the FT says the price includes Diamondback stock, part of the final value would depend on Diamondback's share price at closing; how the cash and stock would be split, and who would receive the shares, was not reported.
The risk is timing and terms. The deal is not signed, the stock component ties the final value to Diamondback's share price, and the earlier Double Eagle deal shows a leaked figure can come in lower once papers are signed. Pulse tracks sponsor-backed deals and fund activity on its funding tracker.