Intrepid-backed Rio Grande E&P Finds Exit to Two Separate, Undisclosed Buyers

Rio Grande E&P LLC, the South Texas E&P founded by industry veteran Glen Hart, recently completed the sale of all its oil and gas assets marking an exit for the private equity-backed company.

“This was a fantastic outcome for Rio Grande, and I want to thank all of our employees for their dedication and hard work,” commented Hart, who served as Rio Grande’s president and CEO, in a company release on June 1.

Hart, the former CEO of Michael Petroleum Corp. and Laredo Energy, founded Rio Grande in 2018 alongside Gold Sky Gas LLC, whose principals include Governor Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush Jr, and Santi Barrosso. Additionally, Rio Grande was supported by  backing from Intrepid Investment Management LLC, the investing arm of merchant Intrepid Financial Partners LLC with offices in New York and Houston.

“I also want to thank Intrepid, Gold Sky Gas, Jeb Bush and our other partners for their support through one of the most turbulent periods for the energy industry,” Hart added in the release. “It is through the collective efforts of our entire team that we were able to achieve such an outstanding result.”

Since its founding, Rio Grande assembled a meaningful portfolio of oil and gas assets in South Texas primarily in Webb and Zapata counties, Texas. This included the company’s 2018 acquisition of Columbus Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Amplify Energy Corp. that owned Amplify Energy’s South Texas oil and gas properties, for $20 million.

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In addition to its position of mature producing conventional assets, Rio Grande also had a premier position of unconventional assets in the core dry gas window of the Lower Eagle Ford, “on which it has drilled some best-in-class Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk wells,” according to the company release on June 1.

Rio Grande had acquired its Eagle Ford acreage in July 2019. The acreage acquisition included approximately 5,700 acres neighboring EOG Resources Inc.’s position in Webb County, Texas.

Per the release, Rio Grande sold both its conventional and unconventional assets to two separate undisclosed buyers. Terms of the transactions were also not disclosed. Intrepid Partners LLC served as exclusive financial adviser and Locke Lord LLP as legal adviser to Rio Grande on the transactions.

Intrepid’s boutique investment banking business has advised on over $160 billion of transactions since 2015. The bank’s investment management business makes principal debt and equity investments through its managed funds.

“We are incredibly proud to have supported Rio Grande from their first asset acquisition to the success it is today. Over the last five years, the team has done an incredible job assembling a premier position and drilling some of the most productive wells in South Texas,” commented Mike France, head of investment management at Intrepid, in the release.

The Rio Grande team also included industry veterans Jerry Holditch and Brian Butler, senior vice president of geoscience and vice president of operations, respectively, as well as CFO Michael W. Hart and Will Ylitalo, vice president of land.

“We want to congratulate Glenn, Jerry, Brian, Michael, Will and the entire Rio Grande team for a tremendous outcome,” added Neil Chen, managing director at Intrepid. “Our collective success is due to the expertise and tireless work of the Rio Grande team.”