Kevin T. Crews, P.C.
Overview
Kevin Crews is a founding partner of the Dallas office of Kirkland & Ellis. Kevin has extensive experience advising on complex transactions including mergers and acquisitions and private equity, with a particular focus representing clients in the energy and infrastructure sector. Kevin is recognized in The Legal 500 United States - Energy Transactions: Oil and Gas. He is also recognized as a “Notable Practitioner” for M&A and Oil & Gas in the U.S. by IFLR1000. In addition, Kevin received the Texas Lawyer’s 2020 Professional Excellence Award as an attorney “On the Rise” and was featured in Forty under 40 in Hart Energy, Oil and Gas Investor.
Experience
Representative Matters
Mergers & Acquisitions
- The Rise Fund, a TPG-managed global impact fund, in its acquisition of Element Markets, the leading independent marketer of renewable natural gas and environmental commodities in North America
- Santa Fe Midstream, a portfolio company of Energy Spectrum, on its sale of Permian Basin gas gathering and processing assets to Stakeholder Midstream
- Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. (NYSE: STPK), a special purpose acquisition company, on its $1.35 billion business combination with Stem, Inc., a global leader in clean energy storage systems
- WPX Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WPX) in its $12.1 billion all-stock merger of equals with Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN)
- Arcosa, Inc. (NYSE: ACA) in its acquisition of Strata Materials
- Blackbuck Resources, a portfolio company of Cresta Fund Management, in its acquisition of Cimarex Energy Co.’s Whites City produced water gathering and disposal infrastructure system in Eddy County, New Mexico and execution of a long-term produced water management agreement with Cimarex that includes a 15-year dedication encompassing more than 40,000 acres
- GPI Capital, a major convertible preferred stockholder of Postmates Inc., in the $2.65 billion all-stock acquisition of Postmates by Uber Technologies, Inc.
- ORIX Capital Partners in its acquisition of oilfield services company, Specialty Welding and Turnarounds, LLC (SWAT) and SWAT’s acquisition of Hydroprocessing Associates, LLC and Breathing Systems Inc.
- Bethyl Laboratories, Inc. in its sale to Summit Partners, with management rollover
- EIG Global Energy Partners in its $750 million acquisition of equity interests in South Texas Midstream, LLC, a newly-formed joint venture with NextEra Energy Partners, LP
- Red Wolf Natural Resources, a portfolio company of Pearl Energy, in its $245 million acquisition of 56,000 net acres and associated production in Oklahoma’s SCOOP, STACK and Merge plays from Apache Corp.
- Wing Resources, a portfolio company of Natural Gas Partners, in its $145 million sale of Midland Basin oil and gas mineral interests to Alliance Resource Partners L.P.
- Wildcat Midstream Partners in the sale of its minority interest in Black Bear Midstream Holdings to affiliates of Oaktree Capital Management
- Canadian Non-Operated Resources L.P., an oil and gas investment fund managed by Grafton Asset Management, on the $700 million merger of its portfolio company, Pipestone Oil Corp., with Blackbird Energy Inc. and related $310 million equity and debt capital raises
- Discovery Midstream I in its $300 million sale to TPG, with management rollover
- Old Ironsides Energy in the $1.75 billion sale of Brazos Midstream to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure
- Tailwater Capital in its acquisition of oil and gas investments from HM Capital Partners
- Wildcat Midstream Partners in the sale of a crude oil gathering system in the Permian Basin to JP Energy
- Independent oil and gas company in its sale of operated oil and gas assets to Crimson Resources, a portfolio company of Vortus Investments
- Private equity consortium in its $840 million sale of oil and gas assets in Oklahoma to FourPoint Energy
- ENGIE in its $4.5 billion sale of U.S. power generation assets to Dynegy and PSP Investment Board
- Falconhead Capital in the sale of NYDJ Apparel to Crestview Partners, with management rollover
- Dell Inc. in its acquisition of Credant Technologies, Inc., a data protection company
Strategic Joint Ventures and Investments
- Pinnacle Midstream II, a portfolio company of Energy Spectrum, on its new build Dos Picos Gas Gathering and Compression System in the Midland Basin, anchored by a long-term acreage dedication and gas services agreement with DoublePoint Energy
- LM Energy, a portfolio company of Old Ironsides Energy, in its producer partnership joint venture to construct and develop a crude oil and gas gathering system in the Delaware Basin, together with related commercial agreements and dedications
- Mettle Midstream, a portfolio company of Pearl Energy and Natural Gas Partners, in its producer partnership joint venture to construct and develop an oil and gas gathering system in the Powder River Basin, together with related commercial agreements and dedications
- WPX Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WPX) in its up to $300 million joint venture with an undisclosed private equity sponsor to fund drilling and completion-related capital expenditures with respect to non-operated properties in the Permian Basin
- WPX Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WPX) in its $500 million joint venture with an undisclosed private equity sponsor to acquire minerals in the Permian Basin
- Sentinel Midstream, a portfolio company of Cresta Fund Management:
- on Texas GulfLink, its proposed Deepwater Crude Oil Export Terminal located near Freeport, Texas
- on its strategic alliance commercial agreements with Freepoint Commodities in furtherance of construction, operation and utilization of Texas GulfLink
- Blackbuck Resources, a portfolio company of Cresta Fund Management, on various water infrastructure producer partnerships and related commercial agreements and dedications
- Discovery Midstream I, a portfolio company of Old Ironsides, in its producer partnership joint venture with Ward Energy Partners to construct and develop a gas gathering system in the DJ Basin, together with related commercial agreements and dedications
- Old Ironsides Energy in its joint development agreement with Carbon Natural Gas Company and Yorktown Energy Partners to explore and produce in the Southern Appalachia
- Wildcat Midstream Partners in its producer partnership joint venture with Approach Resources to construct and develop a crude oil gathering system in the Permian Basin, together with related commercial agreements and dedications
- Tillridge Global Agribusiness Partners in the formation of, and its equity commitment to, Homestyle Selections LP
- Oxford Finance Corporation (a portfolio company of Sumitomo Corporation of America) in its sale of a 49% stake to Welsh Carson and establishment of a joint venture for life science and healthcare services companies
- Six Flags in the administration of its Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Over Georgia fund partnerships and the annual liquidity put transactions with limited partners thereof from 2009 through 2021
Preferred Equity and Structured Securities Transactions
- TPG in its preferred equity investment of up to $140 million to fund capital contributions to Double E Pipeline LLC, a joint venture between Summit Midstream Partners LP and Exxon Mobil Corporation, to construct a FERC-regulated interstate natural gas pipeline in the Delaware Basin
- GSO Capital Partners, Magnetar Capital and BlackRock as purchasers of $1.2 billion of newly issued Series A Convertible Preferred Units of EQM Midstream Partners, LP, proceeds of which will be used to fund EQM’s acquisition of 60% of Eureka Midstream and 100% of Hornet Midstream from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure
- Magnetar Capital in numerous strategic investments, financings, recapitalizations and dispositions, including:
- its formation of a new $350 million special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. (NYSE: STPK) and a new $350 million SPAC, Star Peak Corp. II (NYSE: STPC), both of which have been formed to pursue business combination opportunities in emission reduction and the broader energy transition sector
- its up to $250 million preferred equity investment in WaterBridge Holdings, as part of an equity capital raise involving Five Point Energy, an affiliate of GIC and WaterBridge management to fund strategic acquisitions of water infrastructure from Primexx Energy Partners, Tall City Exploration III and Jetta Permian
- its preferred equity investment in Covey Park Energy to fund its $465 million acquisition of upstream assets in the Haynesville shale from Chesapeake Energy
- its $250 million preferred equity investment in Lucid Energy Group II Holdings, a leading midstream oil and gas company
- in (together with EIG) its $475 million preferred equity investment in CrownRock Holdings, L.P.
- its purchase (together with Harvest Partners) of $80 million of newly issued convertible preferred units of Regency Energy Partners and in its capacity as a holder of preferred equity in connection with the $18 billion merger of Energy Transfer Partners and Regency Energy Partners
- in its capacity as a holder of preferred equity in connection with the approximately $7.5 billion merger of Crestwood Equity Partners and Crestwood Midstream Partners
- its co-investment (together with GSO) in a $450 million preferred financing of Plains Exploration and Production Gulf of Mexico offshore development project
- its $400 million mezzanine debt financing (together with GSO) of Eclipse Resources’ acquisition of The Oxford Oil Company
- its acquisition (together with GSO) from General Electric Energy of preferred units of the general partner of Summit Midstream Partners
- Private equity consortium:
- in the group's $1.25 billion purchase of preferred shares of CHK Cleveland Tonkawa LLC, a newly formed unrestricted, bankruptcy-remote subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy which was formed to own and develop oil and gas producing assets, plus an overriding royalty interest in the first 1,000 (net ORRI) new wells to be drilled on the leasehold acreage contributed by Chesapeake as part of the transaction
- in the group's $1.25 billion purchase of preferred shares of CHK Utica LLC, a newly formed unrestricted, bankruptcy-remote subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy which was formed to own and develop oil and gas producing assets in the Utica Shale, plus an overriding royalty interest in the first 1,500 (net ORRI) new wells to be drilled on the leasehold acreage contributed by Chesapeake as part of the transaction
- GPI Capital in a $225 million convertible preferred equity investment round in Postmates Inc, a leader in the food delivery space
- GPI Capital in a $105 million convertible preferred equity investment in Couchbase, Inc., a technology company specializing in cloud database solutions for business-critical applications
Management Team Transactions
- Discovery Midstream II in its $1+ billion partnership with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners to pursue midstream opportunities
- LM Energy in its partnership with Old Ironsides Energy to pursue midstream development and acquisition opportunities
- Red Wolf Natural Resources in its partnership with Pearl Energy Investments to pursue upstream development and acquisition opportunities
- The management team of Hillstone Environmental Partners, LLC in a review of strategic alternatives culminating in the $600 million sale of Hillstone to NGL Energy Partners LP
- The management team of Bison Oil & Gas Partners II, LLC, a Carnelian Energy Capital portfolio company, in its follow-on equity investment in, and debt and equity recapitalization of, the company
- Discovery Midstream I in its partnership with Old Ironsides Energy to pursue midstream opportunities
- Wildcat Midstream Partners in its partnership with Liberty Energy (predecessor to Old Ironsides Energy) to pursue midstream opportunities
Restructurings and Workouts; 363 and Plan Sponsor Acquisitions
- Fir Tree Partners, Crestline Investors and New Emerald Oil in their $73 million credit bid acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Emerald Oil pursuant to a Section 363 asset sale in bankruptcy and the formation of a contract operatorship with Petro-Hunt
- EQT Infrastructure Fund in its $465 million acquisition of Synagro Technologies, Inc., a waste recycling company, as plan sponsor under a chapter 11 reorganization
- EIG in its debt and equity recapitalization of Tarpon Offshore Ventures, including new capital from Sankaty Advisors
- Breitburn Energy Partners LP in its $775 million sale of certain of its upstream assets to Birch Permian Holdings, Inc. and its $793 million sale of the remainder of its assets to Maverick Natural Resources LLC, via a chapter 11 reorganization
- Fieldwood Energy LLC (a portfolio company of Riverstone) in its prepackaged chapter 11 cases pursuant to which Fieldwood deleveraged its balance sheet by $1.6 billion, raised approximately $525 million in an equity rights offering and purchased for $710 million all Gulf of Mexico deepwater oil and gas assets of Noble Energy, Inc.
Prior Experience
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Merrill Lynch & Co., Investment Banking Division, New York
More
Thought Leadership
Publications
"Preparing a Midstream Company for a Successful Post-Pandemic Exit," The Texas Lawbook, August 11, 2020
"Midstream M&A," Financier Worldwide Magazine, October 2018
"Oil And Gas – Seeking The Hand of Private Equity," Law360, January 16, 2013
Recognition
IFLR1000, Mergers & Acquisitions and Oil & Gas, Notable Practitioner, 2020-2021
Best Lawyer Under 40, D Magazine, 2021
Texas Lawyer Professional Excellence Awards, On the Rise, 2020
Hart Energy, Oil and Gas Investor, Forty Under 40, 2019
Recognized in The Legal 500 United States – Energy Transactions: Oil and Gas, 2019
Named a “Rising Star” by Texas Super Lawyers, 2014–2020
Selected for 2017–2018 Leadership Arts Institute by the Business Council for the Arts
Kevin is also an adjunct lecturer at University of Texas Law School teaching a course on negotiating M&A and other corporate transactions.
Memberships & Affiliations
Member, Dallas Bar Association
Dallas Association of Young Lawyers
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2008Texas
Education
- Columbia Law SchoolJ.D.2008
Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
Columbia Business Law Review
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel HillB.A.summa cum laude, with Highest Honors2003