News

Kayne Anderson has committed $375 million to Panther Energy Company III LLC. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Panther III is an oil exploration and production company.

PRESS RELEASE

TULSA, Okla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Panther Energy Company III, LLC (“Panther III” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has received a $375 million equity commitment from Kayne Anderson Energy Fund VIII, LP (“Kayne Anderson”), co-investors and Panther III’s management team.

Panther III is a private exploration and production company formed to pursue development drilling opportunities in oil-weighted basins across North America. The Panther III management team is led by Berry Mullennix, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Roy Grossman, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Other key members include Jeff Nevins, Chief Financial Officer, Jim Stone, VP of Business Development, Paul Richardson, VP of Geology, Bill Diggs, VP Reservoir Engineering, Phil Schenewerk, Petrophysicist, Joshua Cornell, Land Manager and Robert Eubank, Marketing Manager. Prior to forming Panther III, Mr. Mullennix and Mr. Grossman led Panther Energy Company II, LLC, a Kayne Anderson Energy Fund VI portfolio company, which pursued a similar business strategy and successfully sold its Delaware Basin assets earlier this year.

Mr. Mullennix commented, “Panther III will build on the knowledge and skill gained through several previous divestitures and is prepared to look at any and all acquisitions or joint ventures.”

“The Panther III management team has a highly successful track record of creating value in the oil and gas space. The team has demonstrated their ability to assemble and prudently develop E&P assets at an elite level. We are excited to be partnering for a third time with this accomplished repeat team as one of our initial investments out of Kayne Anderson Energy Fund VIII,” said Chuck Yates, Managing Partner at Kayne Anderson Energy Funds.

ABOUT PANTHER III
Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Panther III will pursue opportunities to lease acreage positions with significant resource potential, as well as acquisitions of large property sets with scalable exploitation and development upside. The Company will consider opportunities throughout select North American basins with an initial focus on the Permian & Mid-Continent regions. For more information, please visit www.pantherenergy.com or call us at 918-551-7100.

ABOUT KAYNE ANDERSON
Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., founded in 1984, is an independent alternative investment management firm focused on niche investing in upstream oil and gas companies, energy infrastructure, specialized real estate, middle market credit and growth private equity. Kayne’s investment philosophy is to pursue niches, with an emphasis on cash flow. We believe our knowledge and sourcing capabilities enable us to deliver above average, risk-adjusted investment returns. Kayne manages $24.5 billion in assets (as of 11/30/2017) for institutional investors, family offices, high net worth and retail clients and employs over 300 professionals in eight offices across the United States.

Through Kayne Anderson Energy Funds (“KAEF”), the firm has raised over $6.3 billion of committed capital dedicated to energy private equity investments in primarily upstream and midstream oil and gas companies. Currently, KAEF has approximately 25 active portfolio companies focused on upstream and midstream oil and gas assets across North America.
The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Houston, New York City, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta and Boca Raton. For more information, please visit www.kaynecapital.com.