August 23, 2021
Willkie represented Black Knight Energy, a private energy company formed to pursue the acquisition and development of large, cash flowing oil and natural gas assets, and its management team in the transaction.
On August 17, Willkie client Black Knight Energy, LLC announced it has received an equity commitment in excess of $500 million from funds managed by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., including Kayne Private Energy Income Fund II, L.P. and Kayne Anderson Energy Fund VIII, L.P., alongside Black Knight’s management team. Willkie represented Black Knight Energy and its management team in the transaction.
Headquartered in Santa Clarita, California, Black Knight Energy is a private energy company formed to pursue the acquisition and development of large, cash flowing oil and natural gas assets across the lower 48 states. The Black Knight management team is led by Todd Stevens as Chief Executive Officer, Darren Williams as Chief Operating Officer and Elizabeth DeStephens as Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer. Prior to the formation of Black Knight, Todd most recently served as President and CEO of California Resources Corp. (CRC), a position he held since the company’s spin-off from Occidental Petroleum in 2014. Darren and Elizabeth also held senior management positions at CRC, most recently as Executive Vice President of Operations, Exploration and Development and Vice President of Reserves and Strategic Analytics, respectively.
Kayne Anderson is a leading alternative investment management firm focused on real estate, credit, infrastructure/energy, renewables and growth equity.
The Willkie deal team was led by partner Michael De Voe Piazza and included partners Robert Jacobson and Mark Holdsworth and associates Jason Nasra, Yaniv Maman and Jacob Volz.
