Latham & Watkins has hired midstream-focused corporate M&A attorney Jonathan Castelan from Kirkland & Ellis’ Houston office, the firm confirmed in a press release Monday.
The Texas Lawbook reported the move earlier.
Castelan is the second partner to join Latham’s Houston office this year. Last month the firm announced that it had brought on finance partner Trevor Wommack from Vinson & Elkins, news that The Lawbook also broke.
Castelan represents private equity firms and energy companies in acquiring, selling and inking strategic joint ventures involving midstream assets.
The attorney also advises on midstream operating agreements involving oil and gas gathering and processing, supply and offtake, transportation, hydrocarbon purchases and pipeline interconnections along with engineering, procurement and construction arrangements.
His experience in the infrastructure industry makes him particularly valuable to the firm, as deals for large pipeline and other midstream projects proliferate in the market.
“His strong relationships with private equity firms and energy companies will further expand our ability to serve the oil and gas industry,” Tim Fenn, managing partner of the Houston office, said in a statement.
Ryan Maierson, chair of the corporate department in Houston, added that Castelan’s track record in complex energy transactions complements the firm’s M&A platform. “In particular, he brings significant experience in infrastructure projects and offshore investments, which are areas of growing interest among our clients,” he said.
In an interview with The Lawbook, Castelan said he was contacted by a recruiter who put him in touch with Latham. He wouldn’t name the recruiter. “As I got to know the attorneys here, both in Houston and other offices, it clearly became the right move to make,” he said.
Castelan said he saw an opportunity to expand his practice by joining Latham, which he said is strong in the midstream part of the industry, including on engineering, procurement and construction, or EPC, projects in the U.S. and internationally. “They are often times quite complicated, but Latham has a great degree of legal resources, including financing, regulatory, environmental and tax.”
The attorney noted the bottlenecks created by the success of U.S. onshore oil and gas plays, particularly in West Texas’ and New Mexico’s Permian Basin, that are spurring new projects and that his clients are exploring the use of joint ventures as a way to finance them. “A lot of investors have been looking at certain projects to alleviate bottlenecks,” he said.
Castelan said he’s seeing discussion around projects in other areas as well, including the DJ Basin in the Rockies, the Scoop/Stack play in Oklahoma and even offshore, including the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and Africa. “People are looking to deploy funds,” he said.
Last fall, Castelan was part of the Kirkland team that counseled Trafigura on a joint venture with Infraestructura Energética Nova, or IEnova, to develop a $200 million refined products terminal and storage facility in Manzanillo, Mexico.
He also assisted Salt Creek Midstream on a partnership with Ares Management and Houston-based ARM Energy Holdings this past April to develop pipeline and processing assets in the Delaware Basin, which spans West Texas and southern New Mexico.
The University of Texas-trained lawyer was at Kirkland for a year and 10 months. He previously practiced at Porter Hedges for three years and also worked in the legal departments of McDermott International, Tetra Technologies and Noble Corp.
Castelan said his experience working in-house provides insight into the “inner thinking” within companies, including what they need, how they value outside counsel “and how you can differentiate yourself from other firms.”