Outfitter Energy Capital recently closed on a new fund used to purchase an existing portfolio of U.S. shale assets from affiliated Outfitter-managed funds.

According to Outfitter, the well delineated and understood assets located in the Marcellus, Woodford and Cotton Valley gas plays provide an “excellent base from which to build value in the portfolio in the currently very favorable commodity price environment.”

“We identified this opportunity to drive value creation in the portfolio well over two years ago and, ultimately, we were able to find strong like-minded investors to support our thesis,” Outfitter Co-Founder and Managing Partner Curt Schaefer commented in a Sept. 20 release.

The closing of the new fund, Outfitter Energy Partners LP, was made with the backing of funds managed by special situations secondaries manager LSV Advisors LLC as lead investor.

The new fund was designed to provide both existing Outfitter and new limited partners the opportunity to invest in an established portfolio of upstream oil and gas companies with attractive development and value creation opportunities, according to the firm’s release.

“We frankly could not be more pleased with the outcome here. LSV and their partners really stepped up to support this raise, which allowed our historical investors the option to cash out or reinvest in what we think is a great growth opportunity for all partners,” Outfitter Co-Founder and Managing Partner George McCormick added.

Outfitter Energy Capital is a Houston-based energy private equity funds manager established in 2016 by McCormick and Schaefer, who were also the founding members and managers of TPH Partners, the legacy private equity business of energy investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. The firm’s current portfolio includes active investments in Antioch Energy, Laurel Mountain Energy and Principle Petroleum, according to its website.

The new Outfitter fund will be highly focused on ongoing development activities in four different basins, including the Western Pennsylvania wet-gas Marcellus, Woodford wet gas in Oklahoma, conventional oil in Wyoming and the East Texas Cotton Valley gas play. In addition to the purchase of an existing portfolio, proceeds from the new fund will provide unfunded commitments for necessary growth capital to enhance the portfolio going forward.

“LSV is excited to invest in this opportunity and partner with the Outfitter management team. We believe they are uniquely positioned with this portfolio of high-quality U.S. shale projects and look forward to their success,” David Tisch, CEO and founder of LSV, said in the Outfitter release. 

Founded in 2005, LSV is a New York-based special situations secondaries manager with approximately $1.5 billion in assets and commitments under management on behalf of institutional and family office clients worldwide, according to the release.