Pride Costs Most in a Decade as History Trumps Math: Real M&A

There’s more to Ensco Plc’s deal for Pride International Inc., the costliest oil drilling takeover in a decade, than just the math.

Ensco’s agreement yesterday to pay $7.3 billion in stock and cash to create the second-largest offshore driller valued Houston-based Pride at 21 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that includes net debt. That’s more expensive than any purchase of an oil driller in the past 10 years and almost twice the industry average of 10.7 times.