Does anyone other than me even read this board? If so, congratulations! We've been sold! BHP Billiton will buy Petrohawk for $12.1 billion, or $38.75 per share:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-14/bhp-agrees-to-purch...

Excerpt:
BHP will pay $38.75 a share using cash and debt, the companies said in a statement today. That’s 61 percent more than Houston-based Petrohawk’s average price over the past 20 trading days and compares with the 25 percent average premium in 17 deals worth at least $5 billion for oil and gas producers in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. [...]

BHP is paying 18.4 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, versus a median of 13.5 times for seven purchases by producers over the past five years, the data show.