Kirkland’s New Dallas Office Closes Two Energy Deals This Week With Combined Value of Nearly $2 Billion

Kirkland & Ellis represented Dallas-based Discovery Midstream Partners II LLC and the management team of Discovery Midstream Holdings II LLC, a producer-focused midstream company, on its initial equity commitment of $1 billion from Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure-focused private equity firm, to pursue a suite of North American midstream opportunities.

Read the company press release

The Kirkland team was led by Dallas-based transactional partner Kevin Crews and included corporate partners Sam Peca and Alex Rose and associates Leon Johnson, Austin Elder and Monica Dion; and tax partners David Wheat and Lane Morgan.

Mr. Crews previously represented Discovery Midstream I in various matters, including its sale to TPG Growth in 2017.

“With their proven track record and this new partnership with one of the world’s leading infrastructure sponsors, I am really excited to see what Discovery’s management team is able to do,” Mr. Crews said. “This is a significant sponsor-backed joint venture in the midstream space, particularly in light of the opportunities that currently exist in the energy market.”

Kirkland’s Dallas office also advised Canadian Non-Operated Resources L.P. (CNOR), a Calgary-based oil and gas investment fund managed by Grafton Asset Management Inc., on the approximate C$700 million strategic merger of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pipestone Oil Corp., with Blackbird Energy Inc. (TSX-V: BBI) and the related C$310 million equity and debt capital raises. The newly combined entity, Pipestone Energy Corp (TSX-V: PIPE), is a recapitalized Montney-focused E&P company. 

The deal was announced in November 2018 and closed on Jan. 4, 2019.  For more information, see Blackbird Energy and Pipestone Oil’s full release and also Kirkland's November 2018 release.

Also led by Mr. Crews, the team included corporate partner Benjamin Adelson and associate Alex Poor; and tax partner Lane Morgan.