DALLAS, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Matador Resources Company ("Matador") announced today that it has commenced an initial public offering of 13,333,334 shares of its common stock pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 previously filed and as amended with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").  An aggregate of 11,666,667 of these shares are being sold by the Company and 1,666,667 of these shares are being sold by certain named selling shareholders. In addition, the underwriters will be granted a 30-day over-allotment option to purchase up to 700,000 shares of common stock from the Company and 1,300,000 shares from the selling shareholders to cover over-allotments, if any.  The common shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and traded under the symbol "MTDR".

Matador is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States, with a particular emphasis on oil and natural gas shale plays and other unconventional resource plays. Its current operations are located primarily in the Eagle Ford shale play in south Texas and the Haynesville shale play in northwest Louisiana and east Texas.

Matador intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay all outstanding indebtedness under its credit facility, with the balance to be used to fund a portion of its 2012 capital expenditure budget.  Matador Resources Company will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling shareholders.

RBC Capital Markets and Citigroup are acting as joint book-running managers. Jefferies,  Howard Weil Incorporated, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, Simmons & Company International, Stephens Inc. and Comerica Securities are acting as co-managers for the offering.  This offering of common stock will be made only by means of a prospectus.  A written preliminary prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, when available, may be obtained from the offices of:

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. The registration statement is available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/ under "Matador Resources Company". This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and include any statement that does not directly relate to a current or historical fact. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as  "could,"  "believe,"  "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "may," "should," "continue," "predict," "potential," "project" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words.  These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties and ultimately may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. For example, our common stock may not ultimately be offered to the public because of general market conditions or otherwise. For further discussion of risks and uncertainties, you should refer to  Matador's SEC filings. Matador undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after this press release, except as required by law. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

For further information, contact:
Wade Massad, EVP at 972-371-5293 or
Nathan Pekar, GC at 972-371-5220

SOURCE Matador Resources Company