Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday that it has entered the U.S. shale gas business with the acquisition of specific assets from Dallas-based private investment firm Aethon Energy Management for about $7.5 billion, which includes $2.3 billion in debt.
Vinson & Elkins represented Mitsubishi with a team led by Shay Kuperman and Nettie Downs in Houston. David Latham, Luke Strieber, Katherine Harclerode, Hana Arriaga, and Reese Glusing worked on the deal from V&E’s Dallas office.
Latham & Watkins advised Aethon with a team led by John Giouroukakis in New York and Clayton Heery, Ryan Maierson, Justin T. Stolte, and James Roberston in Houston.
The Japanese holding company said the acquired assets include Aethon’s gas operations in the Haynesville Shale across Texas and Louisiana that currently produce about 2.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, which is equal to about 15 million tons of LNG annually.
Aethon Energy Management said the the deal forms a Global Strategic Alliance with Mitsubishi that creates “a framework for collaboration on future commercial opportunities across energy transition and next-generation infrastructure projects on a global basis.”
Mitsubishi said the acquisition accelerates its “efforts to build an integrated value chain in the United States — from upstream gas development to power generation, data center development, chemicals production, and related businesses.” The deal is expected to close by June 30, and Reuters reported that Aethon will likely repurchase up to a 25 percent stake in the assets within six months.
Mitsubishi already operates upstream shale gas development in British Columbia, midstream marketing and logistics from Houston, LNG exports from Canada and the Gulf Coast, and power generation through a venture with a California-based power producer.
Other Latham Texas lawyers who advised on the deal include: Armaan Bhimani, Emily Brown, Christine Mainguy, Dominick Constantino, Stuart Cobb, Nathan Zhang and Brock Jones in Houston. David Miller and Robert Brown both work from Houston and Austin, and Andrew Abokhair is in Austin.
Stephanie Teicher advised from New York, as did Scott Ollivierre and Monica Calce. From Washington, David Della Rocca, Laura Szarmach, J. Patrick Nevins, Jason Cruise, Patrick English, Ngoc Hulbig, Mary Casale, Ethan Hoffman, Paul Rosen and Catherine Hein; and from Los Angeles Joshua Marnitz, Reilly Nelson and Harrison White.