** Oil and gas firm Diversified Energy's DEC.N shares fall 2.4% to $16.33 in premarket trading
** Birmingham, Alabama-based DEC announces stock offering in the United States of up to 8.5 million shares
** DEC plans to use the proceeds to repay a portion of debt expected to be incurred by the firm in connection with its $1.28 billion acquisition of U.S. oil and gas producer Maverick Natural Resources
** Citigroup and Mizuho are the joint book-running managers for the offering
** DEC focuses on producing natural gas and liquids from the Appalachia basin and Central Basin
** Co has ~51.3 million outstanding shares, according to the offering prospectus, giving it a $846.4 million market cap
** DEC stock rose 12% in 2024
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))