Any thoughts on this article from WSJ?

thanks, jhh

By RYAN DEZEMBER And GINA CHON

KKR & Co. is in talks to possibly acquire all or parts of Samson Investment Co., one of the country's largest closely-held oil and gas explorers, according to a person familiar with the matter.

If the private-equity firm does a deal for the Tulsa, Okla., energy company, it will likely be for parts of Samson, although a final decision hasn't been made, the person said. Talks are ongoing and a deal might not happen.

Samson has explored strategic options, including a sale, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The company is said to be valued at between $8 billion and $10 billion, people familiar with the matter have said.

The family-owned company operates more than 4,000 wells and has significant production operations in Texas and in the Gulf of Mexico's deep waters. In the past three years, it invested more than $4 billion in drilling and oil-and-gas property acquisitions, according to its website.

Samson's interest in exploring options comes amid a boom in shale drilling, which although lucrative is more expensive than traditional drilling. Samson, the people familiar with the matter said, wants to do more shale drilling beneath its oilfields, mostly in the U.S. To finance the shale push, Samson has been weighing whether to partner with another company or raise funds through a full or partial sale, those people said.

KKR has become a significant player in U.S. oil and natural gas exploration. Though it has been investing in the sector since 1985, the private-equity giant has stepped up its investment in recent years amid the boom in shale drilling.

In the last three years it has at least doubled its money in three shale deals, selling stakes in fields in the Eagle Ford region of south Texas and Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale to major energy producers. Most recently, KKR sold a swath of Eagle Ford acreage to an unidentified oil company for about $140 million, or twice its October 2010 investment of $70 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

KKR then formed a joint venture with RPM Energy LLC, a private Houston energy explorer. RPM's co-founders, Claire Scobee Farley and David Rockecharlie, former oil company executives and investment bankers, are slated to join KKR as managing directors.

Samson has more than 1,200 employees and has offices in Canada and Scotland. The company is owned by one of the U.S.'s wealthiest families, the Schustermans. Charles Schusterman, whose wife Lynn Schusterman ranks on the Forbes 2011 billionaires list, founded the company 40 years ago and built it through acquisitions, according to the company's website. Stacy Schusterman, their daughter, is Samson's chairman and chief executive.

Mr. Schusterman, who died in 2000, was an active philanthropist and gave generously to programs designed to improve Jewish life and culture in the U.S., a family foundation website says. Stacy Schusterman is vice president of the family's charitable foundation.