The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Whitecap and Veren have agreed to a $15-billion deal to create a major Canadian shale player. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe quotes Whitecap chief executive officer Grant Fagerheim telling analysts on a conference call Monday, "The pro forma company will be more resilient and better able to manage the current macro environment, including the ongoing threat of tariffs and commodity price volatility." The transaction would make Whitecap the seventh-largest Canadian oil producer by production, the biggest landholder in the Montney and Duvernay in Alberta and the second-largest oil producer in Saskatchewan. Under the all-stock transaction announced Monday, Veren shareholders are to get 1.05 shares of Whitecap for each Veren share they own. The combined firm is to be led by Whitecap's existing management under the Whitecap name. Four directors are to join the Whitecap board, including Veren's current CEO, Craig Bryksa. Whitecap shareholders will own 48 per cent of the combined entity and Veren shareholders will own the rest. Veren shares spiked more than 16 per cent to $8.19 on the Toronto Stock Exchange; Whitecap shares were down almost 15 per cent to $7.99.