Quantum Capital Group has completed the acquisition of Caerus' oil and gas operations in a deal valued at $1.8bn.
This move involves two of Quantum's companies and includes the assumption of asset-backed securities and other liabilities.
The acquisition, first reported in June, highlights Quantum's interest in the Rocky Mountain energy explorer, which is backed by Oaktree Capital Management, the Anschutz Corporation, and Old Ironsides Energy.
The transaction sees QB Energy, a newly established Quantum portfolio company, taking over the producing upstream assets, gathering and compression midstream assets, and approximately 600,000 acres in the Piceance Basin.
Roger Biemans, an energy entrepreneur, will lead QB Energy as president and CEO.
With a strong track record of building and selling multiple portfolio companies over the past 18 years, Biemans brings a deep, successful partnership history with Quantum to his new role.
In addition, KODA Resources, an existing Quantum portfolio company, is acquiring active upstream production assets, midstream gathering and compression facilities, around 160,000 acres, and all other related holdings in the Uinta Basin.
KODA's leadership team comprises president and CEO Osman Apaydin and executive chair Kurt Doerr.
Quantum partner Tom Field said: “This transaction represents a unique opportunity for Quantum to invest in substantial natural gas production alongside large, contiguous acreage positions containing sizable hydrocarbon resources with significant value creation potential.
“We believe that KODA and QB Energy are well-positioned to steward the next phase of development and operation of the assets to serve responsibly natural gas demand centres in the western US while generating attractive returns for our investors.”
Caerus founder and CEO Dave Keyte said: “Caerus was the first company to fully adopt sandless fracks in the basin. We used that technique in more than 500 wells across Colorado and Utah to significantly reduce truck and rail traffic and improve well results to reach record productivity levels in the basin.
“We also completed the largest water treatment facility in the western US in order to recycle 100% of our produced water for fracking purposes, greatly reducing the need for fresh water and further reducing truck traffic.”
