Strategic acquisition reinforces EagleClaw’s best-in-class service offering by adding complementary natural gas gathering, processing, and compression assets in close proximity to existing system; expanding EagleClaw’s offering to crude and water services; and adding new customers, volumes, and high-quality dedicated acreage

Midland & Houston, TX, September 5, 2018 – EagleClaw Midstream (“EagleClaw”), a portfolio company of Blackstone Energy Partners, announced today that it has entered into binding agreements to acquire Caprock Midstream Holdings (“Caprock”) from Energy Spectrum Capital and Caprock Midstream Management for $950 million plus pre-closing adjustments.  The all-cash transaction is expected to close in 2018 and will be funded with equity and committed debt financing from Barclays Plc.  EagleClaw’s current executive leadership team will lead the combined business, which shall operate under the EagleClaw name, following the closing of the transaction.

EagleClaw is the largest privately held midstream operator in the Permian’s Delaware Basin in West Texas.  The company’s assets are strategically located in Reeves, Ward, and Culberson counties and include more than 550 miles of natural gas and natural gas liquids (“NGL”) pipelines and 720 million cubic feet per day (“MMcf/d”) of processing capacity.  EagleClaw serves many of the region’s leading oil and gas producers, who have committed long-term dedications of natural gas volumes to the company from over 310,000 acres.  Since being acquired by Blackstone last year, EagleClaw has more than doubled its processed volumes and system capacity, increased the amount of acreage under long-term dedication by over 55%, and entered into partnerships with Kinder Morgan and Targa to improve its customers’ takeaway options for natural gas and NGLs.

Caprock is a privately held midstream operator that provides gathering, processing, and disposal services for natural gas, crude oil, and produced water to producers in the Delaware Basin.  Caprock’s assets are strategically located in the core of the southern Delaware Basin in Reeves and Ward counties.  Caprock currently operates two natural gas processing facilities and will have 540 MMcf/d of processing capacity pro forma for the completion of two additional facilities currently under construction.  Caprock also operates almost 300 miles of gas, crude, natural gas liquids, and water gathering pipelines; 23 MBbls of crude storage (expected to grow to over 60 MBbls within the next twelve months); and water disposal facilities with capacity of 210 MBpd (with an additional 375 MBpd of additional capacity planned and permitted).  Caprock serves several highly active producers, which have made long-term dedications for natural gas, crude and / or water-related services totaling over 115,000 acres.

The acquisition of Caprock is complementary to EagleClaw and further solidifies the company’s position as the midstream partner of choice for producers in the Delaware Basin.  Pro forma for the closing of the transaction, EagleClaw will operate close to 850 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude and water gathering pipelines; 1.3 billion cubic feet per day of processing capacity; and crude and water storage facilities, with over 425,000 acres under long-term dedication for midstream services.  The acquisition of Caprock expands EagleClaw beyond natural gas gathering and processing related services into crude- and water-related services, providing opportunities for EagleClaw to offer a broad suite of midstream services to both existing and new customers.  The transaction also benefits EagleClaw’s and Caprock’s customers by improving flow assurance and reliability and providing additional flexibility for customers’ natural gas, crude, and NGL takeaway.

The transaction has been structured such that the existing Caprock operating company (which will be renamed EagleClaw Midstream II) will be a sister-entity to the existing EagleClaw operating business (EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC) following the closing, under common ownership and management by the same corporate parent.  The acquirer under the transaction documents and borrower of the acquisition financing will be a newly-established partnership, completely distinct from the existing EagleClaw credit group.  All field personnel of Caprock will be offered opportunities to remain with the company following the closing.  The Caprock water assets will be operated under a services agreement with Waterfield, a Blackstone-backed partnership focused on long-term full-cycle water solutions for upstream companies in the Permian Basin.

EagleClaw CEO Perspective

“We are delighted to welcome Caprock’s customers and their employees into the EagleClaw team,” said Bob Milam, EagleClaw’s founder and CEO.  “I have known and respected Mike Forbau, Caprock’s co-founder and CEO, for over 20 years.  We look forward to building on the great footprint that Mike and the Caprock team have assembled to date and providing Caprock’s customers with best-in-class service consistent with our record of safe and reliable performance.”  Jamie Welch, EagleClaw’s President and CFO, added, “Following our recent announcement of the Permian Highway Pipeline in partnership with Kinder Morgan, the acquisition of Caprock is another exciting chapter in the continued growth story of EagleClaw.  This transaction expands our business in every aspect, from asset footprint, to customer diversity, to breadth of service offering, while remaining true to EagleClaw’s core mission of providing customer-focused midstream services in the Permian basin.”

From Blackstone Energy Partners

“As investors across the energy value chain, with extensive holdings of upstream and midstream businesses, we have firsthand appreciation for the critical nature of EagleClaw’s services, the importance of safe and reliable operations, and the mutually beneficial relationship with the company’s producer customers,” said David Foley, CEO of Blackstone Energy Partners.  “We look forward to serving Caprock’s customers under the EagleClaw platform and continuing to provide midstream services to address the rapidly growing needs of Permian producers.”  Eric Liaw, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, added, “We acquired EagleClaw with a vision of growing the business into a major, fully-integrated midstream player, delivering comprehensive value-added services to Permian Basin producers.  Following our partnerships with Targa on the Grand Prix JV pipeline and with Kinder Morgan on the Permian Highway Pipeline, the acquisition of Caprock further broadens EagleClaw’s business and enhances the company’s value to its customers.”

From Caprock

“Caprock was formed with the intention of providing producers with a focused service partner in a high growth basin. We have enjoyed working with our key customers to facilitate the development of the Delaware Basin, a world class resource. We are proud of the work our team has done from tying-in the first exploratory wells on this acreage to building infrastructure to enable our customer’s transition to pad development,” stated Mike Forbau, CEO of Caprock.  “As the basin transitions to a larger scale of development, we believe the capital intensity of a large private equity sponsor such as Blackstone will be a great addition to the Caprock business,” added Sanjay Bishnoi, CFO of Caprock.  “The Caprock system and the EagleClaw system share a lot of geographical and operational synergy,”  stated David Ferer, COO of Caprock.  “We firmly believe the EagleClaw team will integrate the two systems to provide its combined customers with greater optionality around gas and product takeaway, in-field operational flexibility, and redundancy.”

From Energy Spectrum Capital

“Caprock exemplifies the role that Energy Spectrum plays in the midstream industry.  By backing highly qualified teams, we allow capital to flow to well thought-out business plans.  Caprock has succeeded in putting early-stage capital to work to develop critical infrastructure for upstream producers to delineate a key new basin in the United States.  We are proud of our partnership with Mike and his team and believe that the integration with EagleClaw will be a strong development for Caprock’s customers,” said Tom Whitener, President of Energy Spectrum Capital.

Jefferies LLC acted as Blackstone and EagleClaw’s financial advisor in connection with the transaction.  Akin Gump served as legal counsel to Blackstone and EagleClaw.  Evercore and Barclays acted as financial advisors to Caprock and Energy Spectrum. Vinson & Elkins LLP and Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP acted as legal counsel to Caprock and Energy Spectrum.

About EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, LLC
Headquartered in Midland and with a core presence in Houston, EagleClaw is focused on rapid response to the midstream infrastructure requirements of Permian producers.  The Company provides comprehensive gathering, transportation, compression, processing and treating services necessary to bring natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil to market.  EagleClaw is also partners with Targa on the Grand Prix Pipeline Project and with Kinder Morgan on the Permian Highway Pipeline Project.  EagleClaw has long term dedications for over 300,000 acres from a broad number of successful and active producers in the Delaware Basin.  For more information, please visit www.eagleclawmidstream.com

About Blackstone Energy Partners
Blackstone Energy Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, with a successful record built on our industry expertise and partnerships with exceptional management teams.  Blackstone has invested over $15 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry.  Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is one of the world’s leading investment firms.  Our asset management businesses, with approximately $440 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis.  Further information is available at www.blackstone.com.

About Caprock Midstream
Headquartered in Humble, TX, Caprock was founded in 2015 by Mike Forbau, David Ferer, Sanjay Bishnoi, John Phillips and Darin Aucoin.  In partnership with Energy Spectrum Partners VII, LP Caprock began developing assets in the Delaware Basin in 2016.  Caprock has developed gas gathering, gas processing, oil gathering and water gathering and disposal assets in the Delaware basin.

About Energy Spectrum Capital
Founded in 1995, Energy Spectrum Capital (“Energy Spectrum”) is a Dallas, Texas-based private equity firm focused on partnering with premier management teams that are pursuing compelling opportunities in the midstream sector of the North American oil and gas industry.

Contacts
EagleClaw
Jamie Welch
(713) 621-7300
jwelch@eagleclawmidstream.com

Blackstone Media Relations
Paula Chirhart
(212) 583-5011
Paula.chirhart@blackstone.com

SAN FRANCISCO, August 2, 2018 – Genstar Capital, a leading private equity firm focused on investments in targeted segments of the software, industrial technology, healthcare, and financial services industries, today announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Drilling Info Holdings, Inc.  Insight Venture Partners will retain a significant minority stake.

About Drillinginfo

Drillinginfo delivers business-critical insights to the energy, power, and commodities markets. Its state-of-the-art SaaS platform offers sophisticated technology, powerful analytics, and industry-leading data. Drillinginfo’s solutions deliver value across upstream, midstream and downstream markets, empowering exploration and production (E&P), oilfield services, midstream, utilities, trading and risk, and capital markets companies to be more collaborative, efficient, and competitive. Drillinginfo delivers actionable intelligence over mobile, web, and desktop to analyze and reduce risk, conduct competitive benchmarking, and uncover market insights. Drillinginfo serves over 3,500 companies globally from its Austin, Texas, headquarters and has more than 675 employees. For more information visit drillinginfo.com.

About Genstar Capital

Genstar Capital (www.gencap.com) is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for 30 years.  Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar currently has approximately $10 billion of assets under management and targets investments focused on targeted segments of the software, industrial technology, healthcare, and financial services industries.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES

Contact: Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations
914-834-4334

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Discovery Midstream (“Discovery”) from TPG Growth for approximately $1.2 billion. KKR is acquiring the provider of natural gas and oil gathering and natural gas processing services company through a newly formed joint venture with Williams(NYSE:WMB). The transaction is being funded primarily through KKR’s energy and infrastructure funds.

Founded in 2015 and based in Dallas, Texas, Discovery operates in the southern portion of Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin (“DJ Basin”). The company’s infrastructure and related facilities are strategically located across more than 250,000 dedicated acres primarily in Weld and Adams counties. The Discovery system includes both natural gas and crude oil gathering pipelines, cryogenic gas processing, liquids handling and crude oil storage. The Discovery assets include a 60 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) gas processing plant with an additional 200 MMcf/d plant that is fully permitted and under construction. It is expected to be in service by the end of 2018.

“We are excited to partner with Williams in the acquisition of Discovery,” said James Cunningham, Managing Director on KKR’s Energy and Infrastructure team. “The Discovery team has built a strong gathering and processing infrastructure footprint to service growing production in the DJ Basin and Williams is well known as a safe and reliable operator of large-scale G&P systems in the Rockies. This fits well with our long-term focus on partnering with top-tier operators who prioritize operational excellence and stakeholder engagement when working on premier North American midstream infrastructure assets. We look forward to supporting the continued growth of Discovery alongside management and Williams for many years to come.”

Upon close, which is subject to customary closing conditions and expected to occur in the third quarter of 2018, Discovery will be led by its existing management team and Williams’ initial economic contribution and ownership will be 40 percent of the purchase price, while KKR’s initial economic contribution and ownership will be 60 percent of the purchase price. Williams will be the operator of Discovery and will hold a majority of governance voting rights. Williams has committed to fund additional capital as required to bring its economic ownership to 50/50.

“We are pleased to partner with KKR on this outstanding acquisition opportunity,” said Alan Armstrong, Williams’ President and CEO. “As one of the premiere providers of large-scale energy infrastructure with operations across the natural gas value chain, we look forward to serving the Discovery customers in this growing basin with our industry-leading midstream services and working with KKR, whose energy and infrastructure investments and strategic partnerships are well-known and highly regarded.”

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with KKR and Williams, two leading institutions that will further support our growth in the DJ Basin. We look forward to continuing to safely deliver for our customers and the community alongside our new partners,” said Discovery CEO Steven Meisel.

Simmons acted as the lead financial adviser to KKR and Williams and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as legal adviser to KKR.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit and, with its strategic partners, hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside its partners’ capital and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc.(NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR Co.

About Discovery Midstream

Based in Dallas, Discovery is a full-service midstream company focused on maximizing value and providing outstanding service to producers. Discovery’s management team has more than 100 years of experience in developing grassroots projects, optimizing assets and providing related services in the major producing basins in the United States. For more information, please visit www.discoverymidstream.com.

About Williams & Williams Partners

Williams (NYSE: WMB) is a premier provider of large-scale infrastructure connecting U.S. natural gas and natural gas products to growing demand for cleaner fuel and feedstocks. Headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., Williams owns approximately 74 percent of Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ). Williams Partners is an industry-leading, large-cap master limited partnership with operations across the natural gas value chain including gathering, processing and interstate transportation of natural gas and natural gas liquids. With major positions in top U.S. supply basins, Williams Partners owns and operates more than 33,000 miles of pipelines system wide – including the nation’s largest volume and fastest growing pipeline – providing natural gas for clean-power generation, heating and industrial use. Williams Partners’ operations touch approximately 30 percent of U.S. natural gas. www.williams.com

About TPG Growth

TPG Growth is the middle market and growth equity investment platform of TPG, the global alternative asset firm. With approximately $13.2 billion of assets under management, TPG Growth targets investments in a broad range of industries and geographies. TPG Growth has the deep sector knowledge, operational resources, and global experience to drive value creation, and help companies reach their full potential. The firm is backed by the resources of TPG, which has approximately $84 billion of assets under management. For more information, visit www.tpg.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180730005197/en/

Media:
KKR
Kristi Huller or Cara Major, 212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: KKR

News Provided by Acquire Media

AUSTIN, Texas & HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Today, affiliates of Venado Oil and Gas, LLC (“Venado”) and KKR announced that they have closed on an acquisition of operated assets located in the Eagle Ford oil window of South Texas. The assets acquired by Venado and KKR include current oil production from 22 producing wells and significant future resource development potential across approximately 23,000 net acres immediately adjacent to existing operated assets held by Venado and KKR in Atascosa and Frio counties. During the second quarter of 2018, the assets produced approximately 4,500 net barrels of oil equivalent per day (74% oil, 11% natural gas and 15% NGLs).

Venado CEO Scott Garrick stated, “These assets are a natural addition to our existing operated assets and considerably increase our future drilling inventory. This acquisition is a continuation of our strategy begun in late 2016 to consolidate proven assets in the Eagle Ford. This is a prime example of the Venado and KKR partnership using our extensive experience in the Eagle Ford to capture additional high-quality assets, where we have identified multiple opportunities to enhance long-term value for our stakeholders.”

David Rockecharlie, Member and Head of Energy Real Assets for KKR, commented, “This investment marks our third asset acquisition in partnership with the Venado team in less than eighteen months, underlining our commitment to capitalizing on the attractive market opportunity we see in the U.S. oil and gas sector at this point in the cycle. We continue to employ our differentiated strategy, which seeks to generate strong investment returns and free cash flow through superior technical and operational execution, as well as disciplined financial and risk management.”

As of the closing date, the Venado and KKR partnership manages an asset position comprising approximately 136,000 net acres producing approximately 43,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Eagle Ford trend of South Texas.

The Venado and KKR asset partnership is principally funded by KKR’s Energy Income and Growth Fund I (“EIGF”). KKR manages a portfolio of oil and gas assets in numerous unconventional and conventional resource areas across the United States and has made thirteen investments in the Eagle Ford to date.

About Venado Oil and Gas

Venado Oil & Gas is a private company focused on the acquisition and exploitation of upstream oil and gas assets. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, its primary objective is to build and operate a portfolio of producing oil and gas wells and drilling locations in the Eagle Ford Shale. For additional information about Venado Oil & Gas, please visit www.vogllc.com.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic manager partnerships that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Media:
KKR
Kristi Huller or Cara Kleiman Major, + 1-212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: KKR & Co. Inc.

18 Jun 2018

Paris, 20 April 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces the signature of an agreement to sell Kallista Energy Investment, a wind energy producer, in which Ardian holds a 100% stake through its third generation infrastructure fund, to Boralex, one of the leaders in the Canadian renewable energy market and the first independent wind energy company in France.

Renewable energy transactions represent around 50% of the M&A volume in the Infrastructure sector. Ardian has a strong presence in this sector with a portfolio of 1.4GW of production capacity built since 2006 via investments in France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Peru, Chili and the US, in wind, solar, hydraulic, biogas and biomass projects. Among these investments, Kallista Energy Investment generates 163MW with a pipe of around 170 MW, which makes it one of the largest renewable platforms in France.

Following Ardian’s acquisition of the company in 2011, Kallista Energy Investment launched an ambitious development programme that led to doubling the size of the company. The Kallista platform also specializes in “repowering”, which consists of replacing old windmills with new, more powerful turbines and a more advanced technology, helping the company to better profit from the wind energy potential of these sites. As a result of this approach, Kallista is able to multiply energy production by two times or even more.

Frédéric Roche, President of Kallista Energy Investment, said: “We are particularly satisfied to have partnered with Ardian in the consolidation of the wind sector in France. We have developed a strong relationship with the Ardian team, which has brought invaluable support specifically in the execution of complex transactions. Looking ahead, we are fully confident in Boralex’s ability to build the next chapter of Kallista Energy Investment’s history.”

Mathias Burghardt, Head of Ardian Infrastructure, added: “Renewable energy, including wind, is an efficient, reliable and therefore increasingly important source of energy. We have a strong commitment to the energy renewable sector and we are continuously looking to renew, diversify and develop our renewable energy portfolio. Our plan is to pursue this development strategy, notably in the US, Latin America and Scandinavia.”

Amir Sharifi, Managing Director at Ardian Infrastructure, added: “We are very pleased with our partnership with Kallista Energy Investment, which led to doubling the size of the company. We believe that Kallistais now mature and has a strong basis to pursue further growth within Boralex.”

Following the transaction, Ardian will share with Kallista Energy Investment employees a portion of the value created during the holding period. Each employee will have a bonus representing at least one month of salary. Ardian has been a pioneer in its commitment to shared outcomes, and since 2008 has distributed over €21m to 9,000 employees in 18 portfolio companies.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$67bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 490 employees working from 13 offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), North America (New York, San Francisco) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo). It manages funds on behalf of about 700 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Follow Ardian on Twitter @Ardian

www.ardian.com

ABOUT BORALEX

Boralex develops, builds and operates renewable energy power facilities in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.  A leader in the Canadian market and France’s largest independent producer of onshore wind power, the Corporation is recognized for its solid experience in optimizing its asset base in four power generation types  —wind, hydroelectric, thermal and solar. Boralex ensures sustained growth by leveraging the expertise and diversification developed over the past 25 years. Boralex’s shares and convertible debentures are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols BLX, BLX.DB and BLX.DB.A respectively.
www.boralex.com or www.sedar.com

PRESS CONTACTS

• ARDIAN
• Headland
• MARTIN ROBINSON
• mrobinson@headlandconsultancy.com
• Tel: +44 203 8054 828