Forbes Energy Services Ltd. recently added to its coiled tubing business with the acquisition of Cretic Energy Services LLC from an NGP-backed company.
Co-founded in 2013 by the company’s president and CEO Joe Michetti, Cretic provides large-diameter, extended-reach, coiled tubing services to oil and gas producers predominantly in the Permian Basin. The company, based in Montgomery, Texas, has been an early mover in bringing high capacity coiled tubing units to the market while also addressing specific demands associated with completing long lateral wells, according to the Forbes press release on Nov. 16.
As a result of the Cretic acquisition, Forbes said it will have one of the largest fleets of large-diameter, high-capacity coiled tubing units. Additionally, the Alice, Texas-based company will have an established footprint in the Permian Basin and South Texas as well as a presence in niche markets in East Texas, Oklahoma and other surrounding states.
“This acquisition is a sizeable opportunity to accelerate growth for Forbes,” said John Crisp, president and CEO of Forbes, in a statement on Nov. 16. “The Cretic team has built a company that is best in class, and dovetails directly with our current offering of completion and production-related services. We share a common goal in continuing to build out an operation based on safe, reliable, consistent and efficient execution.”
Forbes will acquire Cretic from Catapult Energy Services Group LLC, an NGP and NGP Energy Technology Partners portfolio company, for an undisclosed amount.
In order to fund the Cretic acquisition, Forbes said it entered into a new $35 million ABL facility with Regions Bank and amended and upsized its existing first lien term loan to receive an additional $60 million of term loan proceeds.
Cretic co-founder, President and CEO Joe Michetti along with his team of managers will join Forbes following closing of the transaction with Michetti becoming the company’s president and co-COO.
Prio to co-founding Cretic, Michetti co-founded Infinistar Energy Services, which he sold to Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE: WFT) in 2009 and maintained a managerial position within Weatherford’s global coiled tubing product line. He also has held various managerial and engineering positions for El Paso Production, Burlington Resources and Pan Canadian Petroleum.
“Our operation at Cretic has proven to the market that we can deliver results faster, safer, and more efficiently than before,” Michetti said in a statement. “We are eager to become a part of Forbes, which will expand our infrastructure, enable us to reach more markets with our quality approach, and diversify our product offerings to include well servicing and fluid logistics services.”
Following the Cretic acquisition, the short-term portion of Forbes’ term loan, in the amount of $50 million, is expected to be repaid with proceeds from a planned offering of rights to purchase unsecured subordinated convertible debt securities to its existing shareholders on a pro-rata basis. Forbes’ two largest shareholders have committed to purchase the debt securities underlying any rights that are not exercised by other shareholders.
Forbes was advised by Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Houlihan Lokey Capital Inc. in connection with the acquisition. Catapult was advised by Simmons Energy, a division of Piper Jaffray.
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