McClendon Re-Emerges as Shale Collector With Chesapeake Jr.

Aubrey McClendon, the natural gas wildcatter who was fired last year after assembling a shale portfolio that rivaled Exxon Mobil Corp.’s, is following an old script to build a new empire.

McClendon’s American Energy Partners LP agreed to buy shale-drilling rights from West Virginia to Texas in three transactions for a total of $4.25 billion, the closely held Oklahoma City-based company said in dual statements today.