V&E Leads Caiman Energy’s $1.5 billion JV

© 2012 The Texas Lawbook.

By Mark Curriden
Senior Writer for The Texas Lawbook

Sarah Morgan has had a busy week. On Tuesday, Vinson & Elkins promoted her to partner in the firm’s Houston office. Now, Morgan and fellow V&E partner Marcia Backus are leading a $1.5 billion joint venture deal for Caiman Energy II of Dallas.

Caiman is teaming up with Dominion Resources, a Virginia-based utility, to form Blue Racer Midstream, which is expected to provide pipelines and processing services to Utica shale natural gas producers in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Blue Racer Midstream will be equally owned by the two investors. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

A 2001 graduate of Rice University, Morgan is a capital markets and corporate partner at V&E. She recently advised Susser Petroleum Partners, a wholesale distribution master limited partnership, in connection with its $225 million IPO, and she assisted Caiman Energy earlier this year in negotiating its $2.5 billion sale of the company to Williams Partners.

Backus, who leads V&E’s energy transactions practice, represented Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) in its purchase of a $1.55 billion stake in a Texas shale oil block from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. The deal was the second-largest purchase of a U.S. oil and natural gas field and was the first significant investment by KNOC in U.S. shale.

Other V&E lawyers working on the transaction are partners Caroline Blitzer Phillips, David Peck, Sean Becker, Rell Tipton, Neil Imus, David D’Alessandro, Larry Nettles, and counsel Hal Taylor.

Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC, is representing Dominion.

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