Weil advised Guggenheim Securities, LLC, as sole placement and structuring agent, in a $200 million 4(a)(2) re-securitization by PureWest Funding III LLC of new securities issued by two existing SPV subsidiaries of PureWest Energy, LLC under their previous PDP Oil & Gas Securitization platforms (with respect to which Weil originally advised Guggenheim, as initial purchaser and placement agent). The re-securitization was a key component of the acquisition financing related to PureWest’s all-cash merger with a newly formed entity sponsored by a private consortium of family offices and financial institutions for $1.84 billion. The two existing securitization programs are each backed by diversified portfolios focused on the production of natural gas in the prolific Pinedale and Jonah Fields located in the Greater Green River Basin in Wyoming.
This transaction marks the first known issuance of additional securities out of existing Oil & Gas securitization programs, the first known re-securitization of Oil & Gas ABS, and the first energy securitization placed within a M&A process, which provides proof of securitization portability.
The Weil team advising on the deal was led by Global Structured Finance & Derivatives Co-Head Frank Nocco and included Structured Finance & Derivatives counsel Matthew Nemeth and associate Graham Rotenberg, as well as Energy, Oil & Gas partner Omar Samji, Tax partner Daniel Nicholas, and Real Estate attorney Leslie Smith.