SUMMARY

This summary highlights information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read the entire prospectus carefully, including “Risk Factors” beginning on page 22 and the historical and pro forma financial statements and the related notes to those financial statements. Certain oil and gas industry terms, including the terms proved reserves, probable reserves and possible reserves, used in this prospectus are defined in the “Glossary of Oil and Natural Gas Terms” in Appendix A of this prospectus.

Because we control MEMP through our ownership of its general partner, we are required to consolidate MEMP for accounting and financial reporting purposes even though we only own a minority of its limited partner interests. Our financial statements include two reportable business segments: (i) the MRD Segment, which reflects all of our operations except for MEMP and its subsidiaries, and (ii) the MEMP Segment, which reflects the operations of MEMP and its subsidiaries. Except with respect to our consolidated and combined financial statements or as otherwise indicated, the description of our business, properties, strategies and other information in this summary does not include the business, properties or results of operations of BlueStone, MRD Royalty, MRD Midstream and Classic Pipeline (the assets of which are included in our predecessor but were not conveyed to us in the restructuring transactions) or MEMP. Our proved reserves as of December 31, 2013 have been prepared by Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc., our independent reserve engineers (“NSAI”), and our probable and possible reserves as of December 31, 2013 have been prepared by our internal reserve engineers and audited by NSAI, all of which are reflected in our reserve reports (which we collectively refer to as our “reserve report”), summaries of which are included in Appendices B-1 and B-2 of this prospectus.

Information expressed on a pro forma basis in this summary gives effect to certain transactions as if they had occurred on June 30, 2014 for pro forma balance sheet purposes and on January 1, 2013 for pro forma statements of operations purposes. For a description of these transactions, please read “Summary Historical Consolidated and Combined Pro Forma Financial Data” and “—Corporate History and Structure.”

Overview

We are an independent natural gas and oil company focused on the exploitation, development, and acquisition of natural gas, NGL and oil properties with a majority of our activity in the Terryville Complex of North Louisiana, where we are targeting overpressured, liquids-rich natural gas opportunities in multiple zones in the Cotton Valley formation. As of December 31, 2013, our total leasehold position was 347,458 gross (205,818 net) acres, of which 60,041 gross (51,522 net) acres are in what we believe to be the core of the Terryville Complex. We are focused on creating shareholder value primarily through the development of our sizeable horizontal inventory. As of December 31, 2013, we had 1,582 gross (1,091 net) identified horizontal drilling locations, of which 1,431 gross (994 net) identified horizontal drilling locations are located in the Terryville Complex. These total net identified horizontal drilling locations represent an inventory of over 34 years based on our expected 2014 drilling program. We believe our inventory to be repeatable and capable of generating high returns based on the extensive production history in the area, the results of our horizontal wells drilled to date, and the consistent reservoir quality across multiple target formations.

As of December 31, 2013, we had estimated proved, probable and possible reserves of approximately 1,126 Bcfe, 800 Bcfe and 1,711 Bcfe, respectively. As of such date, we operated 98% of our proved reserves, 71% of which were natural gas. For the six months ended June 30, 2014, 55% of our pro forma MRD Segment revenues were attributable to natural gas production, 22% to NGLs and 23% to oil. For the six months ended June 30, 2014, we generated pro forma MRD Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $163 million and pro forma net loss of $924 million, and made pro forma capital expenditures of $166 million. For the year ended December 31, 2013, we generated pro forma MRD Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $159 million and pro forma net loss of $2.9 million, and made pro forma total capital expenditures of $203 million. Please see “—Summary Historical

Consolidated and Combined Pro Forma Financial Data—Adjusted EBITDA” for an explanation of the basis for the pro forma presentation and our use of Adjusted EBITDA to measure the MRD Segment’s profitability.

Our average net daily production for the six months ended June 30, 2014 was approximately 196 MMcfe/d (approximately 75% natural gas, 17% NGLs and 8% oil) and our reserve life was 15.8 years. The Terryville Complex represented 84% of our total net production for the six months ended June 30, 2014. As of December 31, 2013, we produced from 95 horizontal wells and 800 vertical wells. Since January 1, 2014, in the Terryville Complex we have completed and brought online 10 horizontal wells through June 30, 2014, bringing our total number of producing horizontal wells to 31 in our primary formations.

The following chart provides information regarding our production growth and the increasing proportion of our horizontal well production since the beginning of 2012.

Our Properties

Cotton Valley—Overview

The Cotton Valley formation extends across East Texas, North Louisiana and Southern Arkansas. The formation has been under development since the 1930s and is characterized by thick, multi-zone natural gas and oil reservoirs with well-known geologic characteristics and long-lived, predictable production profiles. Over 21,000 vertical wells have been completed throughout the play. In 2005, operators started redeveloping the Cotton Valley using horizontal drilling and advanced hydraulic fracturing techniques. To date, operators have drilled over 600 horizontal Cotton Valley wells. Some large, analogous redevelopment projects in the Cotton Valley include the Nan-Su-Gail Field in Freestone County, East Texas, where over 40 horizontal wells have been drilled by operators such as Devon Energy Corporation and Marathon Oil Corporation, and the Carthage Complex in Panola County, East Texas, where operators such as ExxonMobil Corporation, BP America, Memorial Production Partners LP and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation have drilled over 153 horizontal wells.

Cotton Valley—Terryville Complex Horizontal Redevelopment

We are currently engaged in the horizontal redevelopment of the Terryville Complex in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana utilizing horizontal drilling and completion techniques similar to those employed at the Nan-Su-Gail Field, Carthage Complex in East Texas and other major resource plays across the United States. We have assembled a largely contiguous acreage position in the Terryville Complex of approximately 60,041 gross (51,522 net) acres as of December 31, 2013. The majority of our current and planned development is focused in and around what we believe to be the core of the Terryville Complex.

We entered the Terryville Complex via an acquisition from Petrohawk Energy Corporation in April 2010, with the goal of redeveloping the field with horizontal drilling and modern completion techniques. Since that acquisition, we have completed multiple bolt-on acquisitions and in-fill leases to build our current position. We believe the Terryville Complex, which has been producing since 1954, is one of North America’s most prolific natural gas fields, characterized by high recoveries relative to drilling and completion costs, high initial production rates with high liquids yields, long reserve life, multiple stacked producing zones, available infrastructure and a large number of service providers.

After initially drilling eight vertical pilot wells in the Terryville Complex, we commenced a horizontal drilling program in 2011 to further delineate and define our position. In 2013, we shifted our operational focus to full-scale horizontal redevelopment of the Terryville Complex, going from two rigs to four rigs by the end of that year. Additionally, in the fourth quarter of 2013, we moved to drilling on multi-well pads that allow us to more efficiently drill wells and control costs as we develop our stacked pay zones. We intend to dedicate approximately $304 million of our $351 million drilling and completion budget in 2014 to develop multiple zones within the Terryville Complex, where we expect to drill 43 gross (37 net) horizontal wells and 3 gross (2.7 net) vertical wells. Our horizontal redevelopment program in the Terryville Complex will be focused on increasing our well performance and recoveries.

Within the Terryville Complex, as of December 31, 2013, we had 945 Bcfe, 688 Bcfe and 1,643 Bcfe of estimated proved, probable and possible reserves, respectively, and a drilling inventory consisting of 1,431 gross (994 net) identified horizontal drilling locations, including 91 gross (72 net) drilling locations to which we have attributed proved undeveloped reserves as of December 31, 2013. Since initiating our horizontal drilling program in 2011, we have drilled 31 gross (27 net) horizontal wells. Within the Terryville Complex, on a proved reserves basis, we operate approximately 99% of our existing acreage and hold an average working interest of approximately 74% across our acreage. Our high operating control allows us to more efficiently and economically manage the redevelopment of this extensive resource.

We believe seismic data, as well as information gathered from the results of our existing 275 vertical and 31 horizontal wells throughout the field, support the existence of at least ten stacked pay zones across the Terryville Complex. Our redevelopment program currently targets four of the stacked pay zones in the Cotton Valley formation—zones we term the Upper Red, Lower Red, Lower Deep Pink and Upper Deep Pink, all of which we are developing with horizontal wells through pad drilling. These four zones have an overall thickness ranging from 400 to 890 feet across our acreage position. We believe the overpressured nature of this section of the Cotton Valley formation is highly productive when accessed through horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation technologies. These qualities, when combined with the liquids-rich nature of the natural gas, high initial rates of production and competitive well costs, produce what we believe to be amongst the highest rate of return wells in the nation. Further, there are additional opportunities for redevelopment in the zones above the four main zones. NSAI has audited over $1 billion PV-10 and 677 Bcfe in our possible reserve category for the redevelopment of these additional zones. Please see “—Reserves.”

The table below details certain information on estimated ultimate recoveries and production for the 31 horizontal wells currently producing in the Terryville Complex. Our well results have shown consistency in initial production, decline rates and estimated ultimate recovery. The consistency of these results gives us confidence that the full-scale redevelopment of the Terryville Complex we began in 2013 will be successful as we move from four to six rigs for the remainder of 2014. Please see “Business—Our Properties—Cotton Valley—Terryville Complex Horizontal Redevelopment” for more detail on our properties in the Terryville Complex and the table on page 97 for more detail on the average EUR and cumulative production of our properties in the Terryville Complex.

East Texas

We own and operate approximately 54,337 gross (42,894 net) acres as of December 31, 2013 in Texas, where we are currently producing primarily from the Cotton Valley, Travis Peak and Bossier formations and targeting the Cotton Valley formation for future development. From January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2013, we have drilled and completed 28 gross (10.3 net) wells and are operating one rig in East Texas as of December 31, 2013. In 2014, we plan to invest $29 million to drill 4 gross (3 net) wells in East Texas in the Joaquin Field of Panola and Shelby Counties. As of December 31, 2013, we had approximately 108 gross identified horizontal drilling locations in East Texas, including 54 gross (43 net) drilling locations to which we have attributed proved undeveloped reserves as of December 31, 2013. For the six months ended June 30, 2014, our average net daily production from our East Texas properties was 25 MMcfe/d, of which 75% was natural gas. Within our East Texas properties, on a proved reserves basis, we operate approximately 91% of our existing properties.

Rockies

We own approximately 162,375 gross (66,191 net) acres as of December 31, 2013 in our Rockies region and for the six months ended June 30, 2014 our average net daily production from this region was 6 MMcfe/d. In 2014, we plan to invest $18 million to complete 2 gross (2 net) vertical wells in the Tepee Field of the Piceance Basin targeting the Mancos and Williams Fork formations. As of December 31, 2013, we had approximately 174 gross identified vertical drilling locations in the Tepee Field in our Rockies properties.

Reserves

Our estimates of proved reserves are prepared by NSAI, and our estimates of probable and possible reserves are prepared by our management and audited by NSAI. As of December 31, 2013, we had 1,126 Bcfe, 800 Bcfe and 1,711 Bcfe of estimated proved, probable and possible reserves, respectively. As of this date, our proved reserves were 71% gas and 29% NGLs and oil. Additionally, the PV-10 of our proved reserves was $1,469 million, the PV-10 for our probable reserves was $1,052 million and the PV-10 for our possible reserves was $2,386 million. The following table provides summary information regarding our estimated proved, probable and possible reserves data by area based on our reserve report as of December 31, 2013 and our average net daily production by area for the six months ended June 30, 2014:

Drilling Inventory and Capital Budget

We intend to develop our multi-year drilling inventory by utilizing our significant expertise in horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation to grow our production, reserves and cash flow. For 2014, we have budgeted a total of $351 million to drill 47 gross (39 net) operated horizontal wells. We expect to fund our 2014 development primarily from cash flows from operations. The majority of our drilling locations and our 2014 development program are focused on the Terryville Complex, where we plan to invest $304 million on drilling 43 gross (37 net) horizontal wells and 3 gross (2.7 net) vertical wells. In East Texas, we plan to invest $29 million on drilling and completing 4 gross (3 net) horizontal wells. In the Rockies, we plan to invest $18 million on completing 2 gross (2 net) vertical wells in the Tepee Field.

The following table provides information regarding our acreage and drilling locations by area as of December 31, 2013, except for projected 2014 information:

Our extensive inventory and horizontal drilling program in the Terryville Complex is currently focused on four zones within the Cotton Valley formation—the Upper Red, Lower Red, Lower Deep Pink and Upper Deep Pink. The table below sets forth our drilling locations by zone as of December 31, 2013 along with the average results for the wells we have drilled within each zone. Please see “Business—Our Properties—Cotton Valley—Terryville Complex Horizontal Redevelopment” for more detail on our properties in the Terryville Complex and the table on page 97 for the 30 day initial production rate and EUR condensate volumes.

Our Terryville horizontal development program in 2014 has an average working interest of 86% and our total horizontal development inventory has an average working interest of 69%.

For the Terryville Complex, our 2014 budget assumes an average drilling and completion cost of $9.7 million for gross horizontal wells ($8.3 million per net well) and is based on an average lateral length of 6,233 feet. As part of our long-term development plan, the lateral length of our planned wells is expected to increase and we expect wells within the Terryville Complex to increase to a 7,500 foot lateral length.

Business Strategies

Our primary objective is to build shareholder value through growth in reserves, production and cash flows by developing and expanding our significant portfolio of drilling locations. To achieve our objective, we intend to execute the following business strategies:

Grow production, reserves and cash flow through the development of our extensive drilling inventory.    We believe our extensive inventory of low-risk drilling locations, combined with our operating expertise, will enable us to continue to deliver production, reserve and cash flow growth and create shareholder value. As of December 31, 2013, we had assembled an aggregate drilling inventory of 1,582 gross identified horizontal drilling locations, 90% of which are in the Terryville Complex, representing a drilling inventory of over 35 years based on our expected 2014 drilling program. We believe that the risk and uncertainty associated with our core acreage positions in the Terryville Complex has been largely reduced through our development activity, and because those positions are in areas with extensive drilling and production history. Since initiating

our horizontal drilling program with one rig in 2011, we have invested over $419 million in the Terryville Complex through June 30, 2014. With five rigs running in the Terryville Complex as of June 30, 2014, we are one of the most active drillers in the Cotton Valley formation. We intend to dedicate approximately $304 million of our $351 million drilling and completion budget in 2014 to develop the overpressured liquids-rich Terryville Complex through multi-well pad drilling. We believe multiple vertically stacked producing horizons in the Terryville Complex can be developed using horizontal drilling techniques, thus enhancing the economics of this field.

Enhance returns through prudent capital allocation and continued improvements in operational and capital efficiencies.    We continually monitor and adjust our drilling program with the objective of achieving the highest total returns on our portfolio of drilling opportunities. We believe we will achieve this objective by (i) minimizing the capital costs of drilling and completing horizontal wells through knowledge of the target formations, (ii) maximizing well production and recoveries by optimizing lateral length, the number of frac stages, perforation intervals and the type of fracture stimulation employed, (iii) targeting specific zones within our leasehold position to maximize our hydrocarbon mix based on the existing commodity price environment and (iv) minimizing operating costs through efficient well management.

Exploit additional development opportunities on current acreage.    Our existing asset base provides numerous opportunities for our highly experienced technical team to create shareholder value by increasing our inventory beyond our currently identified drilling locations and ultimately by growing our estimated proved reserves. In the Terryville Complex, we are currently targeting multiple stacked horizons. We also believe our East Texas region has a significant inventory of low-risk, liquids-rich horizontal drilling locations. Finally, we continue to evaluate our leasehold positions in the Rockies and have preliminarily identified over 170 potential vertical locations.

Maintain a disciplined, growth oriented financial strategy.    We intend to fund our growth primarily with internally generated cash flows while maintaining ample liquidity and access to the capital markets. Furthermore, we plan to hedge a significant portion of our expected production to reduce our exposure to downside commodity price fluctuations and enable us to protect our cash flows and maintain liquidity to fund our drilling program. Since approximately 76% of our acreage in the Terryville Complex was held by production as of December 31, 2013 and no significant drilling commitments are needed to hold our remaining acreage in the near term, we are able to allocate capital among projects in a manner that optimizes both costs and returns, resulting in a highly efficient drilling program.

Make opportunistic acquisitions that meet our strategic and financial objectives.    We will seek to acquire oil and gas properties that we believe complement our existing properties in our core areas of operation. In addition to our focus on the Terryville Complex, we are pursuing other properties that provide opportunities for the addition of reserves and production through a combination of exploitation, development, high-potential exploration and control of operations. We follow a technology driven strategy to establish large, contiguous leasehold positions in the core of prolific basins and opportunistically add to those positions through bolt-on acquisitions over time. We entered into the Terryville Complex through strategic acquisitions and grassroots leasing efforts, amassing a land position as of December 31, 2013 of 96,733 net acres, 51,522 net acres of which we believe to be in the core of the play. We will continue to identify and opportunistically acquire additional acreage and producing assets to complement our multi-year drilling inventory.

Competitive Strengths

We believe that the following strengths will allow us to successfully execute our business strategies.

Large, concentrated position in one of North America’s leading plays.    As of December 31, 2013, we owned approximately 60,041 gross (51,522 net) acres in what we believe to be the core of the Terryville

Complex in Lincoln Parish, which we believe to be one of North America’s most prolific liquids-rich natural gas fields, characterized by consistent and predictable geology and multiple stacked pay formations confirmed by extensive vertical well control. Through December 31, 2013, our drilling program in the Terryville Complex has produced some of the top performing gas wells in the United States in the previous two years, with single horizontal well results having achieved EURs averaging 11.0 Bcfe per well. Through June 30, 2014, we have brought 31 wells online with average 30-day initial production rates of 16.7 MMcfe/d and average drilling and completion costs of $9.0 million per well. Approximately 76% of our acreage in the Terryville Complex was held by production at December 31, 2013 and there are no significant lease expirations until 2017. Additionally, all of our acreage in this play can be held by running a one-rig program over the next 18 months.

De-risked acreage position with multi-year inventory of liquids-rich drilling opportunities.    As of December 31, 2013, we had a drilling inventory consisting of 1,582 gross identified horizontal drilling locations, of which approximately 145 are gross proved undeveloped locations. Based on our expected 2014 drilling program and net identified drilling locations, we have over 34 years of liquids-rich drilling inventory. The majority of our drilling activity has been and will continue to be focused in the Terryville Complex, where we produce liquids-rich natural gas from the overpressured Cotton Valley formation. We have used subsurface data from our vertical wells coupled with 3-D seismic data to identify and prioritize our inventory based on returns. This liquids-rich gas formation allows for NGL processing that, when coupled with the condensate produced, results in strong well economics. For the six months ended June 30, 2014, 55% of our MRD Segment revenues were attributable to natural gas, 22% to NGLs and 23% to oil.

Significant operational control with low cost operations.    On a proved reserves basis, we operate 99% of our properties and have operational control of all of our drilling inventory in the Terryville Complex. We believe maintaining operational control will enable us to enhance returns by implementing more efficient and cost-effective operating practices, through the selection of economic drilling locations, opportunistic timing of development, continuous improvement of drilling, completion and stimulation techniques and development on multi-well pads. As a result of the contiguous nature of our leasehold in the Terryville Complex, its geologic continuity and cross unit lateral pooling, we are able to drill consistently long laterals, averaging over 5,041 lateral feet, which helps us to reduce costs on a per-lateral foot basis and increase our returns. We expect the average lateral length of the 43 gross wells that we expect to drill in the Terryville Complex in 2014 to be 6,233 feet per well. Operating in mature basins in North Louisiana and East Texas allows us to take advantage of the available and extensive midstream infrastructure and accelerate our development plan without encountering significant constraints in either takeaway or processing capacity. Our operational control allows us to focus on operating efficiency, which has resulted in our MRD Segment lease operating costs declining 35% from $0.51 per Mcfe for the six months ended June 30, 2013 to $0.33 per Mcfe for the six months ended June 30, 2014.

Proven and incentivized executive and technical team.    We believe our management and technical teams are one of our principal competitive strengths due to our team’s significant industry experience and long history of working together in the identification, execution and integration of acquisitions, cost efficient management of profitable, large scale drilling programs and a focus on rates of return. Additionally, our technical team has substantial expertise in advanced drilling and completion technologies and decades of expertise in operating in the North Louisiana and East Texas regions. The members of our management team collectively have an average of 22 years of experience in the oil and natural gas industry. John A. Weinzierl, our Chief Executive Officer, has 24 years of oil and natural gas industry experience as a petroleum engineer, a strong commercial and technical background and extensive experience acquiring and managing oil and natural gas properties. Our management team has a significant economic interest in us directly and through its equity interests in our controlling stockholder, MRD Holdco. We believe our management team is motivated to deliver high returns, create shareholder value and maintain safe and reliable operations.

Our relationship with MEMP.    We own a 0.1% general partner interest in MEMP through our ownership of its general partner as well as 50% of MEMP’s incentive distribution rights. MEMP’s objective as a master

limited partnership is to generate stable cash flows, allowing it to make quarterly distributions to its limited partners and, over time, to increase those quarterly distributions. As a result of its familiarity with our management team and our asset base and our track record of prior “drop-down” transactions, we believe that MEMP is a natural purchaser of properties from us that meet its acquisition criteria. We believe this mutually beneficial relationship enhances MEMP’s ability to generate consistent returns on its oil and natural gas properties, provides us with a growing source of cash flow from our partnership interests in MEMP and allows us to monetize producing non-core properties. Since MEMP’s initial public offering, we have consummated “drop-down” transactions with MEMP totaling approximately $376 million. In addition, we may have the opportunity to work jointly with MEMP to pursue certain acquisitions of oil and natural gas properties that may not otherwise be attractive acquisition candidates for either of us individually. While we believe that MEMP would be a preferred acquirer of our mature, non-core assets, we are under no obligation to offer to sell, and it is under no obligation to offer to buy, any of our properties.

Financial strength and flexibility.    During 2013, we generated $159 million of pro forma MRD Segment Adjusted EBITDA and made pro forma total capital expenditures of $203 million. During the six months ended June 30, 2014, we generated pro forma MRD Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $163 million and made pro forma capital expenditures of $166 million. We intend to continue to fund our organic growth predominantly with internally generated cash flows while maintaining ample liquidity for opportunistic acquisitions. We will continue to maintain a disciplined approach to spending whereby we allocate capital in order to optimize returns and create shareholder value. We seek to protect these future cash flows and liquidity levels by maintaining a three-to-five year rolling hedge program. As of June 30, 2014, our total liquidity, consisting of cash on hand and available borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility, was approximately $121.6 million.

Initial Public Offering and Recent Developments

On June 18, 2014, we completed our initial public offering of 49,220,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $19.00 per share. Of the 49,220,000 shares offered, 21,500,000 were offered by us and 27,720,000 were offered by the selling stockholder, MRD Holdco. We did not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by MRD Holdco. We used the net proceeds of approximately $380.7 million from our sale of shares in our initial public offering (i) to redeem the 10.00%/10.75% Senior PIK toggle notes due 2018 (the “PIK notes”) issued by MRD LLC in their entirety and to pay the applicable premium in connection with such redemption and accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption, (ii) together with borrowings of approximately $614.5 million under our $2.0 billion revolving credit facility entered into in connection with the closing of our initial public offering, to make a cash payment to certain former management members of WildHorse Resources in connection with their contribution to us of their membership interests and incentive units in WildHorse Resources, (iii) to repay borrowings outstanding under WildHorse Resources’ revolving credit facility and second lien term loan, which we refer to collectively as WildHorse Resources’ credit agreements, (iv) to reimburse MRD LLC for interest paid on the PIK notes and (v) to pay costs associated with our revolving credit facility.

On July 10, 2014, we completed a private placement of $600.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.875% senior unsecured notes (the “MRD Senior Notes”) at par. The MRD Senior Notes will mature on July 1, 2022. Interest on the MRD Senior Notes accrues from July 10, 2014 and will be payable semiannually on January 1 and July 1 of each year, commencing on January 1, 2015. The net proceeds of approximately $586.0 million, after deducting the initial purchasers’ discounts and commissions and offering expenses, were used to repay a portion of the borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility. The amounts to be repaid under our revolving credit facility were incurred to repay the amounts outstanding under WildHorse Resources’ credit facilities in connection with the closing of our initial public offering. In conjunction with the closing of the offer and sale of the MRD Senior Notes, the borrowing base under our revolving credit facility was automatically decreased by $56.5 million.

Acquisition History

We built out our leasehold positions in North Louisiana, East Texas and the Rocky Mountains primarily through the following acquisition activities:

Our Principal Stockholder

Our principal stockholder is MRD Holdco, which is controlled by the Funds, which are three of the private equity funds managed by NGP. Upon completion of this offering, MRD Holdco, one of the selling stockholders in this offering, will own approximately 41% of our common stock (or approximately 39% if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares from the selling stockholders is exercised in full). Pursuant to a voting agreement, MRD Holdco also has the right to direct the vote of an additional approximately 19% of our common stock (or approximately 18% if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares from the selling stockholders is exercised in full) owned by certain former management members of WildHorse Resources (including the other selling stockholders). The Funds also collectively indirectly own 50% of MEMP’s incentive distribution rights, and MRD Holdco owns 5,360,912 subordinated units of MEMP, representing an approximate 6.2% limited partner interest in MEMP. We are also a party to certain other agreements with MRD Holdco, the Funds and certain of their affiliates. For a description of the voting agreement and these other agreements, please read “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

Founded in 1988, NGP is a family of private equity investment funds, with cumulative committed capital of approximately $10.5 billion since inception, organized to make investments in the natural resources sector. NGP is part of the investment platform of NGP Energy Capital Management, a premier investment franchise in the natural resources industry, which together with its affiliates has managed approximately $13 billion in cumulative committed capital since inception.

Our Interest in Memorial Production Partners LP

Through our ownership of its general partner, we control MEMP. We also own 50% of its incentive distribution rights. MEMP is a publicly traded limited partnership engaged in the acquisition, exploitation,

development and production of oil and natural gas properties in the United States, with assets consisting primarily of producing oil and natural gas properties that are located in East Texas/North Louisiana, the Rockies, South Texas, the Permian and offshore southern California. Most of MEMP’s properties are located in large, mature oil and natural gas reservoirs with well-known geologic characteristics and long-lived, predictable production profiles and modest capital requirements. Because we control MEMP, we are required to consolidate MEMP for accounting and financial reporting purposes, even though we and MEMP have independent capital structures.

During each of the year ended December 31, 2013 and six months ended June 30, 2014, less than $0.1 million of distributions were made in respect of the MEMP incentive distribution rights. Please see “Business—Relationship with Memorial Production Partners LP” for further information on our interest in MEMP.

Risk Factors

Investing in our common stock involves risks that include the speculative nature of oil and natural gas exploration, competition, volatile commodity prices and other material factors. For a discussion of these risks and other considerations that could negatively affect us, including risks related to this offering and our common stock, please read “Risk Factors” beginning on page 22 of this prospectus and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Corporate History and Structure

We are a Delaware corporation formed by MRD LLC in January 2014 engaged in the acquisition, exploitation, and development of natural gas, NGL and oil properties primarily in North Louisiana and East Texas. MRD LLC was a Delaware limited liability company formed on April 27, 2011 by the Funds to own, acquire, exploit and develop oil and natural gas properties.

We completed our initial public offering on June 18, 2014. In connection with the closing of our initial public offering, MRD LLC contributed to us substantially all of its assets, comprised of the following, in exchange for shares of our common stock (which were distributed to MRD LLC’s sole member, MRD Holdco): (1) 100% of its ownership interests in Classic Hydrocarbons Holdings, L.P. (“Classic”), Classic Hydrocarbons GP Co., L.L.C. (“Classic GP”), Black Diamond Minerals, LLC (“Black Diamond”), Beta Operating Company, LLC (“Beta Operating”), MRD Operating LLC (“MRD Operating”) and MEMP GP, which owns a 0.1% general partner interest and 50% of the incentive distribution rights in MEMP, and (2) its 99.9% membership interest in WildHorse Resources. In addition, certain former management members of WildHorse Resources contributed to us the remaining 0.1% membership interest in WildHorse Resources, and also exchanged their incentive units in WildHorse Resources, for shares of our common stock and cash consideration. As a result, we are majority-owned by the group consisting of MRD Holdco and certain former management members of WildHorse Resources.

Following the completion of our initial public offering, MRD LLC distributed to MRD Holdco (i) its interests in BlueStone, MRD Royalty LLC, MRD Midstream, Golden Energy Partners LLC (“Golden Energy”) and Classic Pipeline; (ii) the MEMP subordinated units; (iii) the remaining cash released from its debt service reserve account in connection with the redemption of the PIK notes; and (iv) approximately $6.7 million of cash received by MRD LLC in connection with the sale of Golden Energy’s assets in May 2014. We also reimbursed MRD LLC for the approximately $17.2 million interest payment that it made on the PIK notes on June 15, 2014, which was distributed to MRD Holdco.

As part of the restructuring transactions, we merged Black Diamond into MRD Operating, and MRD LLC was merged into MRD Operating upon the termination of the PIK notes indenture on June 27, 2014.

For more information regarding BlueStone, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Results of Operations—MRD Segment.” For more information about the services agreement with WildHorse Resources, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Services Agreement.”

The following diagram shows our ownership structure after giving effect to this offering, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares from the selling stockholders, and does not give effect to 19,250,000 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under the Memorial Resource Development Corp. 2014 Long Term Incentive Plan (described in “Management—2014 Long Term Incentive Plan”). See “Principal and Selling Stockholders” for the number of shares being offered by MRD Holdco and the other selling stockholders, respectively.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 1301 McKinney St., Suite 2100, Houston, Texas 77010, and our phone number is (713) 588-8300. Our website address is www.memorialrd.com. We make our periodic reports and other information filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we refer to as the SEC, available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports and other information are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into, and does not constitute a part of, this prospectus.

Emerging Growth Company Status

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”). For as long as we are an emerging growth company, unlike other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, we are not required to:

We will cease to be an “emerging growth company” upon the earliest of:

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, for complying with new or revised accounting standards, but we have irrevocably opted out of the

extended transition period and, as a result, we will adopt new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates in which adoption of such standards is required for other public companies.

The Offering

Summary Historical Consolidated and Combined Pro Forma Financial Data

Prior to the restructuring transactions and the closing of our initial public offering, MRD LLC and its consolidated subsidiaries, our accounting predecessor, controlled MEMP through its ownership of MEMP GP,

the general partner of MEMP. Because MRD LLC controlled MEMP through its ownership of the general partner, MRD LLC was required to consolidate MEMP for accounting and financial reporting purposes even though MRD LLC owned a minority of its partner interests and MRD LLC and MEMP had independent capital structures. MRD LLC received cash distributions from MEMP as a result of its partner interests and incentive distribution rights in MEMP, when declared and paid by MEMP. In connection with the closing of our initial public offering, MRD LLC contributed substantially all of its existing assets to us in exchange for shares of our common stock. Through our ownership of MEMP GP, we continue to control MEMP and therefore will continue to consolidate the results of MEMP into our consolidated financial statements in future periods.

Our predecessor had two reportable business segments, both of which were engaged in the acquisition, exploitation, development and production of oil and natural gas properties:

We continue to have two reportable segments. For more information regarding reportable business segments, please see the predecessor’s audited historical financial statements and related notes and our unaudited historical interim financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The following tables include summary historical financial data for us and our predecessor, as well as the MRD Segment as of and for the periods indicated. The summary historical financial data of our predecessor as of and for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 were derived from the audited historical financial statements of our predecessor included elsewhere in this prospectus. The summary historical financial data as of June 30, 2014 and for the six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 were derived from our unaudited interim financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The summary historical financial data of the MRD Segment as of and for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 were derived from certain financial information used in the preparation of our predecessor’s audited financial statements. The summary historical financial data for the MRD Segment as of June 30, 2014 and for the six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 were derived from certain financial information used in the preparation of our unaudited interim financial statements.

The summary unaudited pro forma data as of June 30, 2014 has been prepared to give pro forma effect to MEMP’s July 2014 acquisition of certain oil and natural gas liquids properties in Wyoming (the “MEMP Wyoming Acquisition”), MEMP’s July and September 2014 equity offerings (the “MEMP Offerings”) and our private placement on July 10, 2014 of $600.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.875% senior unsecured notes at par as well as MEMP’s private placement on July 17, 2014 of $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.875% senior unsecured notes at 98.485% of par (collectively referred to as the “Debt Offerings”).

The summary unaudited pro forma data for the six months ended June 30, 2014 and for the year ended December 31, 2013 has been prepared to give pro forma effect to: (i) the exclusion of both BlueStone and Classic Pipeline as well as the MEMP subordinated units, none of which were conveyed to us in connection with our initial public offering; (ii) certain restructuring transactions that took place in connection with our initial public offering; (iii) the MEMP Wyoming Acquisition and the MEMP Offerings; (iv) the Debt Offerings; and (v) incremental federal income tax expense.

We derived the data in the following tables from, and the following tables should be read together with and is qualified in its entirety by reference to, our historical financial statements (including those of our predecessor) and our pro forma financial statements and the accompanying notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. You should also read “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and our pro forma and historical consolidated financial statements, all included elsewhere in this prospectus. Among

other things, those historical consolidated and combined financial statements and pro forma financial statements include more detailed information regarding the basis of presentation for the following data.