Hicks Acquisition Co will buy Resolute Natural Resources Co and take the oil and natural gas producer public in a deal worth about $582 million, the companies said on Monday.

Once the deal is completed, the combined company, to be called Resolute Energy Corp, will apply for listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the companies said in a joint statement.

Current Hicks shareholders will own about 74 percent of the new company, with the remainder controlled by Hicks' founder, Thomas Hicks, and Resolute's founder, the investment fund Natural Gas Partners.

Denver-based Resolute produced an average of 7,626 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter and has proved reserved of 49.3 million barrels of oil equivalent, the companies said.

Resolute plans to use proceeds from the deal to reduce debt.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

The deal effectively values Resolute's oil reserves at $11.80 a barrel, a sharp discount to crude's current price above $70 a barrel.

Shares of Hicks have traded between $8.46 and $9.67 in the past 52 weeks.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; editing by John Wallace)