© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(June 1) – Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners announced Monday that it has agreed to purchase Eagle Ford Shale company EFS Midstream from affiliates of Pioneer Natural Resources and Reliance Industries for $2.15 billion.
The transaction, which should close this year in the third quarter, will provide Enterprise with access to EFS Midstream’s system of 460 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, 10 central gathering plants, 780 million cubic feet per day of natural gas treating capacity and 199,000 barrels per day of condensate stabilization capacity.
Enterprise General Counsel Craig Murray turned to energy M&A partner Terry Radney of Locke Lord to lead its end of the deal. Locke Lord colleagues assisting Radney included partners Joe Perillo and Dale Smith and associates Hunter Summerford and Walker Clarke, all of whom are based in Houston with Radney.
“This is an important deal for Enterprise because it expands their footprint in the prolific Eagle Ford Shale area with 20-year term fixed fee contracts that cover the entire value chain from the wellhead in South Texas to Mont Belvieu, the center of the natural gas liquids universe,” Radney said. “Enterprise and Pioneer have also been the leaders in the industry in exporting processed condensate outside of the U.S.”
Charlie San Miguel, the assistant general counsel at Enterprise, led the in-house team on the deal.
Besides the current deal, Locke Lord has advised Enterprise on other development projects in the Eagle Ford, as well as Colorado’s Piceance Basin and Wyoming’s Jonah Field.
Pioneer GC Mark Kleinman turned to New York corporate partner David Cohen of Vinson & Elkins to lead the Dallas-based company’s end of the deal. Others from V&E on the corporate team included partner John Grand and associate Joe Jablonski from Dallas.
Other V&E attorneys on the deal included Houston partners Gary Kotara and James Olson, Dallas partners Jim Meyer and Chris Dawe, Houston associates Megan Stephens and Alan Alexander.
V&E has handled previous deals for Pioneer, including its January 2013 agreement to sell its Texas Wolfcamp Shale assets to Sinochem Group for $1.7 billion.
Reliance turned to two law firms, Latham & Watkins and Thompson & Knight, to handle its end of the deal.
Partner Michael P. Darden led the Latham corporate deal team, receiving assistance from associates James Robertson, Brock Naeve and Sean McKinley. Partner Catherine Ozdogan and associates Pamela Kellet and Jordan Roberts advised on finance matters. Partner Tim Fenn and associate James Cole handled tax matters. Partner Joel Mack took care of environmental matters. All attorneys are based in the firm’s Houston office.
Dallas senior counsel Arthur Wright and Austin partner Gaye White led the Thompson & Knight team and received assistance from Houston attorney David Cias and associates Lucas LaVoy and Kelli Sims and Dallas associates Claudia Duncan, Courtney Roane and Emily Semands.
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