Stonepeak backs new midstream firm

Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners has committed up to $500 million in equity to Sage Midstream, a company that will pursue investments in North American energy infrastructure.

Specifically, Sage will seek to acquire and develop assets across the hydrocarbon value chain, including natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, petrochemicals and refined products. It will have a broad focus on transportation, processing, fractionation, storage and marketing services, the Houston-based company said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with Stonepeak to pursue energy infrastructure projects and believe there is a tremendous amount of opportunity in today’s energy markets,” Sage president Greg Bowles said.

Bowles, who heads the company, was previously executive vice president of Lone Star NGL, a division of Energy Transfer Partners. The rest of the management team includes vice president of business development John Steen, who also worked at Lone Star, vice president of engineering and operations Nick Cocavessis and vice president of finance Vlad Klenikov.

According to the statement, Bowles and Steen developed over $1 billion of energy infrastructure projects while at Lone Star.

It is unclear whether Stonepeak is investing in the company through its latest vehicle, Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund II, which it closed on its $3.5 billion hard cap in January, or through its debut infrastructure fund, which closed on $1.65 billion in October 2013.

Fund II targets mid-market ($75 million to $300 million) infrastructure investments in sectors including midstream oil and gas, renewable power, water, electric utilities and transportation in North America.

It is also unclear whether Stonepeak’s injection of capital enabled the launch of Sage Midstream or whether the company was already in operation. However, Stonepeak is the only partner that appears on the Sage website and the related announcement is the only statement included in its news section.

Upon closing of the transaction, Stonepeak managing director Jack Howell, senior managing director Luke Taylor and senior operating partner Forrest Wylie will join Sage’s board of directors, Sage said in the statement. It did not specify how many members there would be in total. Stonepeak declined to comment further except to say that it controls the board.

Established in 2011, Stonepeak describes itself as a North America-focused private equity firm with a conservative yet opportunistic approach to infrastructure investing. It invests in the energy, power, transportation, utilities, water and communications sectors. It currently manages $5.7 billion in assets, according to its website.