LBO Wire / Dow Jones Newswire
July 25, 2008

Pine Brook Forms Joint Venture With Energy Co.

Energy and financial services investor Pine Brook Road Partners LLC formed a joint venture with publicly traded Australian oil and gas producer Comet Ridge Ltd.

Pine Brook has taken a 56% majority stake in the venture, Comet Ridge Resources.

The New York-based firm may eventually commit up to $100 million of funding to the company. The firm has infused $9 million up front, including $7 million is cash and $2 million of the Rocky Mountain assets Pine Ridge recently acquired from Perth-based oil and gas company Strike Oil Ltd. Comet Ridge will put in $7 million in assets, taking a 43% stake.

Pine Brook will fully fund all of the venture's capital spending until the firm's interest reaches 80%, at which point Comet Ridge Ltd. has the option to dilute its interest down to minimum of 5% without being required to fund any additional spending.

The new entity will own the exploration and development assets previously held by Comet Ridge Ltd. in the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies. It has already begun drilling in the Florence oil field in Colorado, and will target operations later this year at the 425,000 acres it has optioned in the Grays Harbor Basin in Wash.

Comet Ridge is the fifth investment Pine Brook has made in the oil and gas sector. Craig Jarchow, a managing director at Pine Brook, said that the $100 million price tag was in the firm's "sweet spot" for investments. The venture also broadens Pine Brook's effort to capitalize on current fuel prices, he added.

In September 2007, Pine Brook invested in Asia Pacific Exploration Consolidated LP, a Houston-based start-up oil and gas production group specializing in South East Asia.

LBO Wire reported last year that Pine Brook is seeking to raise $1.5 billion for its debut fund. The firm was formed by Howard Newman, former vice chairman of Warburg Pincus LLC.

Reach Pine Brook Road Partners at 212-661-9175.