Houston energy finance partner Mark Holmes has departed Bracewell for White & Case, the New York-based law firm announced this week.
The move reunites Holmes, who had practiced at Bracewell for his entire 16-year career, with former colleague Steve Tredennick. Holmes said White & Case offered an opportunity to take on new challenges.
“I’m excited to be here and take this next step in my career,” he said. “It is a chance to build a Houston energy finance practice in what is already a strong global energy practice.”
Holmes has significant expertise handling energy finance and capital structure transactions, with an emphasis on the upstream and midstream sectors. White & Case leaders in a statement highlighted his experience in the U.S. reserve-based lending space.
In June, Holmes closed on a couple of financings for Houston-based WaterBridge Resources. One of the deals was the sale of Five Point Energy’s minority stake in WaterBridge to the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. Holmes said the WaterBridge transactions are a “good indicator of activity in the water industry in the midstream space.”
The Texas Lawbook reported in December that Holmes helped lead a Bracewell team that advised WaterBridge on its $238 million acquisition of South Pecos water disposal assets from NGL Energy Partners.
Holmes said midstream deal activity has been much more active than M&A in upstream this year, and he expects that trend to continue.
“M&A drives a lot of what I do in the finance space, at least on the upstream side, which has made it a bit more challenging,” he said. “If M&A picks up in upstream, we will see lending pick up. Midstream activity has filled the gap.”