shares in tamarack valley energy ltd edged lower in early trading wednesday after the company said it had agreed to acquire privately held crestwynd exploration ltd for 1847 million canadian dollars the equivalent of us1436 million at 1108 am et shares were down 29 at c330 the canadian oil and natural gas company said it will pay c926 million in cash as well as issue 263 million of its own shares at a deemed price of c350 apiece tamarack valley energy said the acquisition further establishes the company as a leading operator in the clearwater oil play in alberta acquiring highquality assets with significant free funds flow where we can leverage our operational and technical expertise is a core principle of tamaracks returns focused strategy it said