Crowley, LA – May 15, 2012 – Francis Drilling Fluids, Ltd. (“FDF”) today announced it has partnered with Prophet Equity LP, a private equity firm headquartered in Southlake, TX that specializes in control equity investments for middle and lower middle market companies. Under the terms of the transaction, FDF becomes an owned affiliate of FDF Resources Holdings LLC and Prophet Equity LP.
Mike Francis, founder and President of FDF, will continue to play an important role in the business going forward. “This event represents a watershed in FDF’s 35+ year history,” Mike commented, “We are fortunate to partner with a capital provider that shares our core values of delivering high quality oilfield solutions to our E&P, pressure pumping and proppant supplier customers coupled with a strong track record of driving profitable growth.”
Ross Gatlin, Prophet Equity’s CEO and Managing Partner, explained that “the opportunity to partner with Francis Drilling Fluids fits right into our strike zone – a strategically viable, asset rich business which is poised to benefit from the continued growth in demand for domestically produced oil, natural gas, and other petrochemical ‘liquids’ where our deep operational toolkit can be deployed alongside management in order to accelerate the business to the next level of performance.”
John Tatum, a Principal at Prophet Equity, observed that “FDF has a terrific leadership team and dedicated, capable employees. With such a strategically strong business and unique and diversified service proposition, we see many opportunities to help them continue to deliver a strong value proposition to their customers in both existing and new markets.”
About Francis Drilling Fluids, Ltd.
Founded in 1977, FDF is the largest fracturing materials logistics company in the U.S. During 2011, the company handled over 450 million pounds of fracturing materials within its unique logistics ecosystem, which is comprised of rail spurs, warehouses, trans-loading facilities and storage silos. FDF focuses on the storage and transportation of both proppants, which include sand, resin-coated sand, and ceramics (all key components of the hydraulic fracturing process) during the drilling of a horizontal oil or natural gas well and drilling mud and other production and completion materials. Additional service lines include the rental of certain oilfield equipment such as tanks and hoses as well as the provision of cleaning services.
Headquartered in Crowley, Louisiana with additional facilities in that state as well as in Texas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, FDF provides services to the Haynesville Shale (East Texas and Louisiana), Woodford Shale (Oklahoma), Eagle Ford Shale (South Texas), Midcontinent/ Niobrara Shale (Utah/ Colorado/ Wyoming) as well as the Permian Basin (West Texas) and Gulf of Mexico (Louisiana). For more information, please visit www.fdfltd.com or call us at +1.337.783.8685.
About Prophet Equity LP
Prophet Equity LP is a private equity firm that uses proven, data-driven analytical techniques coupled with over 100 years of investment and management experience to invest in, unlock and realize future value today. Partnering with owners and management teams, Prophet Equity’s team utilizes a toolkit that is Fortune 500 tested and private equity proven to diagnose and drive dramatic value creation. Portfolio company management teams are highly motivated with clear, uncapped incentives based on realized business performance.
Over the last decade alone, Prophet Equity’s Principals have invested and managed approximately $400 million of control equity in over 30 entities with over $4 billion in revenue. Their control equity investments focus on lower and middle market companies with strategically strong businesses with significant value creation potential, such as those found in partnerships, corporate carveouts, divestitures and non-strategic businesses of larger companies. Representative business situations include special situations, succession planning, recapitalizations, reorganizations, turnarounds, acquisitions, mergers and bankruptcies. For more information, please visit www.prophetequity.com or call us at +1.817.898.1500.