Bravo Natural Resources LLC has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Oklahoma City’s Canaan Natural Gas PE Funds for 950 operated and nonoperated wells producing primarily from the Hartshorne Coal and Woodford formations.

Bravo, based in Tulsa, Okla., will acquire producing and gathering assets in the Arkoma Basin of southeast Oklahoma for $250 million in cash. The company is led by serial entrepreneur Charlie Stephenson, Bravo’s CEO, who, over the years, has turned $42 million in backing into companies that sold for a total of $704 million.

The latest Stephenson acquisition includes net proved reserves of 286 billion cubic feet equivalent and net production of about 33 million cubic feet equivalent per day of natural gas and NGLs. The transaction includes 56,000 net acres prospective for horizontal, liquids-rich Woodford development.

“We are pleased with the opportunity to purchase an excellent set of assets from Canaan that include long lived natural gas producing assets combined with approximately 56,000 net acres of potential development in the liquids rich horizontal Woodford Formation in the Arkoma Basin of Oklahoma. The entire Bravo team looks forward to another highly successful venture,” Stephenson said.

Bravo was formed in December 2013 with an equity capital commitment in excess of $200 million from Natural Gas Partners through its NGP Natural Resources X LP fund and management. Bravo is an E&P company focused on conventional and unconventional acquisitions and organic growth opportunities in select onshore producing basins in North America.

Closing is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Stephenson successfully built and sold four Midcontinent based companies with NGP.

He launched his relationship with NGP in 1996 as COO of Spring Holding Co. The $10 million start-up portfolio company sold in 1999 for $250 million. A second company, Bravo Natural Resources Inc., began operations under Stephenson in 1999 with $12 million of NGP equity. Bravo sold for $119 million in 2002. Another Bravo Natural Resources Holdings LLC was formed with a $20 million commitment from NGP. The company focused on natural gas in the Granite Wash Formation and sold in 2004 for $335 million.

Natural Gas Partners is a $10.5-billion family of private equity funds that makes direct equity investments in energy companies. NGP’s investments range from $10-$500 million.

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