Financial, legal and other advisory experts who facilitate energy deal-making eventually conclude, "After making sure deals close for others and watching E&P clients reap the benefit, I should give this a try myself." But if that idea gains much traction, then they realize it is time to bring in more operational fire power. In particular, the light goes on when completion of a successful merger or acquisition transforms their fledging E&P company into so much more. Such is the case now with Houston-based Dune Energy Inc., which started in 2003 from scratch. In a negotiated transaction this past spring, followed by an oversubscribed capital-raise, small-cap Dune acquired Goldking Energy Corp., a private E&P company backed by Natural Gas Partners, for $302.5 million in cash and approximately 10 million Dune shares valued at $18 million. At the beginning of this year, the combined entity's pro forma production was about 29 million cubic feet a day, but that should reach nearly 60 million a day by year-end. Pro forma reserves are 142 billion cubic feet equivalent. For more on this, see the October issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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