Tim Travis'  Instablog

While I certainly agree with the premise of this article, unfortunately I think it is highly unlikely that Chesapeake Energy's (CHK) Board of Directors as currently constructed would allow a merger. They have proven to have zero backbone and to act in their own interests as opposed to those of shareholders. With that said Chesapeake has some of the finest assets in the energy sector. The problems with the company are based on the debt burdened capital structure, and a management that nobody trusts. If acquired by a larger integrated oil company, these issues could be fixed. I think an acquisition of Chesapeake at these prices would be a lot more attractive than Exxon's (XOM) acquisition of XTO when natural gas prices were still close to their highs. As the United States potentially becomes an exporter of LNG I believe Chesapeake is a risk worth taking for an entity that can take control over.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/chesapeake-valuation-seen-luring-major-oil-merger-deal-real-m-a.html

Disclosure: I am long CHK.