Shale oil powerhouse sues its investors after stock surge

Fair settlement: The sun sets behind a pump jack in the American west’s ‘oil country’. Texas Pacific is shelving plans to issue new stock after shareholders thwarted the move, which will now be resolved in court. — Reuters

HOUSTON: One of the biggest landowners in Texas oil country doubled returns to investors in 2022. It’s starting the new year by suing some of them as a dispute over the future direction of the company spills into a Delaware court.

Texas Pacific Land Corp (TPL), a land bank created out of a 19th-century railroad bankruptcy, shelved plans to issue new stock last month after shareholders baulked at the implicit dilution of their holdings and the prospect of executives inexperienced in dealmaking looking for acquisitions.