Hastings Equity Partners has held a final closing of Hastings Equity Fund III, LP (Fund III) with $172 million in commitments. Hastings invests in lower middle-market energy services and equipment companies.
Investors in Fund III include one of the largest foundations in the US, a university endowment, a fund-of-funds, and several family offices. “We appreciate the continued support of our current investors and are honored to have several new blue chip institutional investors who comprise nearly 50% of our third fund,” said Bruce MacRae, Managing Director of Hastings.
Through Fund III, Hastings intends to continue to follow its partnership approach with business owners. In the seven transactions Hastings has either completed or has under Letter of Intent in the last twelve months, the owners have retained on average 33% of the equity.
“There are a lot of service companies in the oilfield right now that are looking for help in managing and financing their growth,” said Ted Patton, Managing Director of Hastings. “They have no interest in selling out but are interested in finding a partner who understands the problems they face and can provide creative solutions.”
Hastings’ approach towards these partnerships is to leverage the operational experience of the firm’s managers and investors, many of whom are active or former CEOs of Fortune 1,000 companies. In addition, due to Hastings’ expanding portfolio of oilfield services companies, the firm is able to share best practices, technology trends, and contacts across its platform to ensure that all of the Hastings’ investments benefit.
Hastings has already completed five investments in Fund III since its initial closing in November 2013. These include: (i) Extreme Plastics Plus (a provider of environmental solutions for fluid and waste containment), (ii) WadeCo Specialties (an oilfield production chemical company), (iii) Southern Petroleum Laboratories and Deerborne Energy Company (a provider of services necessary for the accurate measurement of volume and composition of hydrocarbon products), and (iv) Extreme Plastic Plus’s first add-on acquisition, Three Amigos (provides installation services for water containment systems for drilling and fracking activities in the Permian Basin).
“When I made the decision to partner with Hastings, I knew I would get financial support. What I underestimated was how helpful Hastings would be at working with my team to tackle key operational problems. I really enjoy working with these guys,” said Bennie Wharry, CEO of Extreme Plastics Plus.
Hastings invests from $5 million to $20 million in lower middle-market energy services and equipment businesses that have trailing EBITDA from $4 million to $15 million. The firm was founded in 2004 and is based in Waltham, MA (www.hastingsequity.com).
Forbes Private Capital Group (www.forbespcg.com) was the placement agent for Fund III and Edwards Wildman Palmer (www.edwardswildman.com) was the legal counsel.
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 8-19-14
