Houston, New York, Tulsa (Sept. 5, 2012) – Sage Midstream, LLC (“Sage”) announced today that it has partnered with investment funds affiliated with Riverstone Holdings LLC (“Riverstone”), an energy and power-focused private equity firm, and Kaiser Midstream (“Kaiser”), an oil and gas midstream services company owned by George B. Kaiser, to form a new company with up to $500 million of equity commitments. Sage will pursue natural gas liquids (“NGL”) related midstream opportunities in North America’s liquids-rich production plays.Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Sage is led by President Greg Bowles and Vice President of Business Development John Steen. Mr. Bowles was previously Executive Vice President of Lone Star NGL, a joint venture between Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (“Energy Transfer”) and Regency Energy Partners, L.P. (“Regency”), where he was responsible for all commercial operations and development. While at Lone Star NGL, Mr. Bowles and Mr. Steen developed over $1 billion of NGL infrastructure projects. Joining the Sage team as Vice President of Engineering and Operations is Nick Cocavessis. Mr. Cocavessis formerly worked with Mr. Bowles and Mr. Steen at LDH Energy Asset Holdings, which was acquired by Energy Transfer and Regency in 2011. The three principals have over 50 years of combined experience in the acquisition, development, construction, and operation of NGL-related infrastructure.
The Company will pursue greenfield development and acquisition opportunities to provide producers with the necessary midstream infrastructure to ensure reliable access to the highest value markets for their production.
Mr. Bowles said, “We are thrilled to have partnered with Riverstone and Kaiser, two premier energy investors, each of which brings unique value to this venture. NGL logistics and economics are more important to production plays than ever before. The build-out of NGL midstream assets is often critical to the successful, timely execution of production plans. With our extensive experience leading first-to-market projects and providing outstanding service to customers, we are extremely excited about the opportunity ahead.”
Pierre Lapeyre and David Leuschen, co-founders of Riverstone, added, “Sage is a great example of Riverstone’s approach to growth capital investing, which involves identifying high-quality management teams and providing the capital to help them start new businesses in attractive markets. The Sage team we are partnering with has deep relationships and a successful track record of project development in the NGL midstream sector.”
John Boone, President of Kaiser Midstream, commented, “Greg and his team are proven leaders in the midstream sector who have been extremely successful in developing NGL businesses. We are excited to be partnering with Riverstone and working with such a talented management team. The demand for NGL midstream services will continue to grow as North American oil and gas producers continue to expand their development of natural gas liquids. Sage is poised to capitalize on this trend by efficiently serving its customers with high-value midstream services.”