TPG Capital (TPG), a global private investment firm, has partnered with Dan Allen Hughes Jr. and Thomas M. Hart III to form a new venture, Maverick American Natural Gas (Maverick), with an initial commitment of up to $1 billion of equity capital to acquire and operate conventional natural gas producing properties in North America. Hughes will serve as chairman and Hart will serve as president.

Michael MacDougall, partner at TPG Capital said, “We believe that natural gas will play an important and growing role in satisfying our country’s energy needs over the next decade and beyond. Dan Allen and Tom are proven leaders with deep industry knowledge and operating acumen, and we look forward to leveraging their expertise to build a compelling platform.”

“Trends in the energy sector have created an opportunity to build a natural gas-focused company through acquisitions,” said Hughes. “TPG’s deep capital resources and expertise in building great companies make it an ideal partner for this effort.”

“Maverick is already seeing opportunities to acquire and operate core properties that fit our strategy as other companies divest them to raise capital,” said Hart. “This is unquestionably a challenging period for many gas producers, but Maverick is focused on the long-term opportunity for natural gas.”

In addition to his role at Maverick, Hughes is CEO & president of Dan A. Hughes Company LP and Hupecol Operating Company LLC. Hughes has been active in the E&P industry for more than 30 years.

Hart has been engaged in energy transactional work for almost 20 years. Before co-founding Maverick, Hart was a senior corporate development officer for El Paso Corp. for 10 years, most recently as SVP Business Development for El Paso Exploration & Production Co.

Maverick is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. 

Source:  TPG Capital