TPG Capital, a leading global private investment firm, is partnering with Dan Allen Hughes Jr. and Thomas M. Hart III to form a new venture, Maverick American Natural Gas LLC, with an initial commitment of up to $1 billion of equity capital. Maverick, based in San Antonio, will acquire and operate conventional natural gas producing properties in North America. Hughes will serve as chairman and Hart will serve as president.

“This is something Tom and I have been working on for a number of months. We see a long-term opportunity to build a natural gas-focused company in this current environment,” says Hughes, in an exclusive interview with OilandGasInvestor.com.

“We won’t necessarily restrict ourselves only to conventional resources, but they will be the main focus,” says Hart. “We don’t see ourselves as strictly contrarians, but so much of the industry has shifted its capital to liquids and resource plays, it strikes us as an attractive time to be building a company based on conventional gas acquisitions.”

Given the large equity commitment from TPG, the new company will look at all sizes of deals, probably focusing on Texas and the Gulf Coast region at first, says Hart. “We are flexible, and our investors expect us to look at the full range, from $100 million up to $1 billion.”

Maverick’s sweet spot will be producing properties with undeveloped potential. It does not seek to buy undeveloped acreage.

Michael MacDougall, partner at TPG Capital, says, “We believe natural gas will play an important and growing role in satisfying our country’s energy needs over the next decade and beyond. Dan and Tom are proven leaders with deep industry knowledge and operating acumen, and we look forward to leveraging their expertise to build a compelling platform.”

“Maverick is already seeing opportunities to acquire and operate core properties that fit our strategy as other companies divest them to raise capital,” says Hart. “This is unquestionably a challenging period for many gas producers, but Maverick is focused on the long-term opportunity for natural gas.”

In addition to his role at Maverick, Hughes is chief executive and president of Dan A. Hughes Co. LP and Hupecol Operating Company LLC. He has been active in the E&P industry for more than 30 years, domestically and internationally. Hart has been engaged in energy transactional work for almost 20 years. Before co-founding Maverick, he was a senior corporate development officer for El Paso Corp. for 10 years, most recently as senior vice president of business development for El Paso Exploration & Production Co. At El Paso E&P, he led acquisitions of more than 1 trillion cubic feet equivalent of reserves in numerous transactions totaling over $2.5 billion, and divestitures in excess of $1 billion.

TPG Capital has $48 billion under management, and has invested in energy firms such as Denbury Resources, Copano Energy, Energy Future Holdings (formerly TXU Corp.), Petro Harvester Oil & Gas, and Valerus Compression Services. Porter Hedges represented the management and investor group in the formation of Maverick American.

Comments