June 3, 2015
Willkie represents Springbok Energy Partners, LLC in its joint venture with Natural Gas Partners (NGP) to pursue investments in mineral and royalty interests and in connection with the launch of its private equity firm.
Willkie client Springbok Energy Partners, LLC, a Dallas-based partnership focused on making investments in oil and gas mineral and royalty assets, recently announced the formal launch of its private equity firm and that it has closed a new strategic partnership that was formed between Springbok's management and Natural Gas Partners (NGP) to pursue investments in mineral and royalty interests. Springbok’s investment strategy is to create a diversified portfolio of mineral and royalty interests in mature and emerging resource plays across the United States. The investment in the Springbok platform represents NGP’s only existing mineral and royalty acquisition focused partnership.
Springbok has an established presence in the market as a scaled multi-basin buyer that has focused on a growth strategy that features organic acquisitions directly from mineral owners. The company targets assets in both emerging and mature resource plays. NGP is a family of private equity investment funds with approximately $16.5 billion of cumulative equity commitments, organized to make investments in the natural resources sector. NGP is part of the investment platform of NGP Energy Capital Management, a premier investment franchise in the natural resources industry.
Willkie’s role in the deal was covered by the media, including an article in the Texas Lawyer, which included the following quote from partner Michael De Voe Piazza: "The transaction was an exceptionally rewarding one. The unique structure of the joint venture with NGP required a high degree of expertise across a number of practice areas; to that end, we were able to leverage both our energy and private equity expertise in Houston and our elite asset management practice in New York and Washington."
The deal was handled by partners Michael De Voe Piazza, Phil Isom and Peter Haller, of counsel Martin Miller, and associates Clay Brett, Kevin Kim, Chris Clark, Meredith Levy and Anne Choe.
