The Iron Horse Energy Services logo on a sign outside a facility in Redcliff, Alta., on July 3, 2025. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

By Canadian Press, CHAT News Staff

BUSINESS

Trican Well Service buys Medicine Hat-area oilfield services provider

Jul 3, 2025 | 7:00 PM

Trican Well Service Ltd. has signed a deal to buy Iron Horse Energy Services, a privately owned oilfield services provider and one of Medicine Hat’s largest employers.

Iron Horse Energy Services started in the Medicine Hat area in 2005 before it grew to employ more than 320 people and operate over 200 pieces of equipment by 2022, according to a CHAT News report.

Under the deal, the company will pay $77.35 million in cash and 33.76 million Trican common shares, making the deal worth about $231 million based on Trican’s share price on Wednesday.

“Iron Horse is one of few North American fracturing companies that has consistently demonstrated operational and financial performance that aligns with Trican,” chief executive Brad Fedora said in a news release Thursday.

Iron Horse provides fracturing and coiled tubing services, which help extract oil and gas from shale formations.

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Its main operating areas are in the Cardium, Charlie Lake, Mannville Stack, Viking, Montney and Shaunavon regions of western Canada.

Its website lists offices in both Redcliff and Calgary.

CHAT News has submitted several questions to Trican about the impact the acquisition will have on Iron Horse employees and the facilities it operates in Medicine Hat.

A news release from Trican said that following the acquisition, Iron Horse will operate as a wholly owned division of Trican, and it’s expect to retain all of the existing management and employees of Iron Horse.

Trican said the acquisition will boost its bottom line and shareholder returns, as well as grow its customer base in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Fedora added.

Trican also says it will increase its quarterly base dividend by 10 per cent to 5.5 cents per share from five cents.

Its shares jumped almost 11 per cent to $5.04 in trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

Steven Pudwell, president of the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce, said the acquisition can be seen as a positive.

“It’s one of those great success stories from Medicine Hat,” Pudwell said in an interview Thursday.

“Not just to be bought by a bigger company, but supplying quality jobs for people to live in Medicine Hat and provide for their families.”

Both Iron Horse and Trican have large facilities in Redcliff, close to the Trans Canada Highway.

Trican officials in a phone conference Thursday afternoon did not indicate any intention to move those sites elsewhere in Alberta.

“Trican is widely considered among the top completions services providers in North America and has developed this reputation through a focus on the same core values that Iron Horse has demonstrated for two decades,” said Iron House chair and chief executive Tom Coolen in a press release.

“Together, we will continue to deliver exceptional service to existing and prospective clients and create new career opportunities for both Iron Horse and Trican employees.”