Paul R. Knowlton

Since joining Kirkland: 

• Allied Industrial Partners LLC in its strategic investment in Waste Eliminator, LLC, a leading regional provider of solid waste hauling, disposal and recycling services for commercial and industrial waste. 
• Warburg Pincus, as lead investor, in the $320 million line of equity commitment for Viridi Energy, a full-service renewable natural gas (RNG) platform. 
• Warburg Pincus and Chisholm Energy Holdings LLC in Chisholm’s $604 million divestiture of its Northern Delaware Basin assets to Earthstone Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ESTE). 
• Alta Resources in the $2.925 billion sale of its upstream and midstream subsidiaries for cash and public stock consideration to EQT Corp. 
• Warburg Pincus and LMCA in the launch of Full Sail IP Partners, an innovative brand acquisition firm. 
• Warburg Pincus in its line-of-equity commitment to Aquila Air Capital, a specialty finance platform focused on commercial aerospace.
• Gas Innovations on a partnership with an affiliate of AEA Investors in connection with the formation of Meritus Gas Partners, a packaged gas distribution platform. 
• 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. 
• Riviera Resources, Inc. (OTCQX: RVRA) in the $111 million sale of its subsidiary, Blue Mountain Midstream LLC, to Citizen Energy.
• Affiliates of Magnetar Capital and GSO Capital Partners as lead investors in the simplification merger of EQM Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: EQM) and Equitrans Midstream Corporation (NYSE: ETRN) and the associated redemption and rollover into preferred equity at ETRN of $1.2 billion of the investors’ Series A Convertible Preferred Units of EQM.
• KKR in the formation of a partnership with Spur Energy Partners LLC to acquire large, high-margin oil and gas production and development assets across the Lower 48 and the subsequent acquisition of Permian Northwest Shelf assets from Percussion Petroleum LLC.
• BlackRock, GSO Capital Partners and Magnetar Capital as lead purchasers in the $1.2 billion convertible preferred equity investment in EQM Midstream Partners, LP, a growth-oriented master limited partnership operating in the Appalachian Basin.
• A subsidiary of EPIC Midstream Holdings, LP, a company managed by affiliates of Ares Management LLC, in its acquisition of the Robstown NGL fractionation facility and associated pipeline near Corpus Christi, Texas, from Southcross Holdings Borrower LP. 
• Pine Brook Road Partners in its line of equity commitment to Ancova Midstream, LLC, an Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based midstream development company focused on near-the-wellhead oil and gas infrastructure in the U.S. Mid-Continent.
• Huntsman Corporation in its acquisition of Nanocomp Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of carbon nanotube-based advanced materials.
• Private equity sponsor in connection with its investment into a joint venture with an undisclosed oil and gas company and the related $533 million acquisition of Devon Energy Corporation’s (NYSE: DVN) oil and gas properties in the Barnett Shale.

Prior to Kirkland:

• Represented the underwriters in Hess Midstream Partners LP’s initial public offering.

• Represented Spark Energy, Inc. in an offering of 1,610,000 shares of 8.75% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock.

• Represented the underwriters in Jagged Peak Energy Inc.'s initial public offering.

• Represented a privately held pipeline company in its private placement of $1.4 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes.

• Represented a private company in the in creation of an Upstream Energy and Production Company and contribution of assets.

• Represented Warren Resources, Inc. and its affiliates in its Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

• Represented an industrial cleaning company in an equity recapitalization and debt refinancing.

• Represented Drake Alliance Corporation d/b/a The Drake Company in the purchase by Buckeye Corrugated, Inc. of all of the outstanding shares of common stock in The Drake Company.

Associate, Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP