Avista Capital hiring Texas exec for energy team: Source

  • Whaling has 35 years in oil and gas
  • Title at Avista is industry executive
  • Avista sees strategic role for Whaling

The buyout shop, which closed on $1.4 billion for Avista Capital Partners III in July 2013, will name Whaling as industry executive, with a focus on energy investments. He will play a key strategic role at Avista, a source familiar with the firm told Buyouts.

Other industry executives at Avista include HĂ¥kan Björklund, the former CEO of pharmaceutical company Nycomed; Phil Seskin, a former Verizon Communications executive; and Charles Harwood, former CEO of medical testing company Focus Diagnostics. From the energy patch, Avista now lists Trevor Turbidy, ex-CEO of offshore services company Trico Marine Services, under the title of industry executive.

Whaling most recently worked as CEO of Parkman Whaling LLC, a Houston-based oil and gas banking advisory firm that he co-founded in 2007. In 2001, he co-founded Laredo Energy, which drew an investment from Avista Capital in 2008. Whaling also was a managing director at DLJ Merchant Banking, where he worked with Steven Webster, now co-managing partner and co-CEO of Avista Capital Partners. Webster and Whaling both worked on building up Global Energy Partners, a firm that sourced and managed private equity investments in the energy sector within the DLJ franchise. Whaling was also CEO of Monterey Resources, which was bought by Texaco in 1997.

The addition of Whaling comes after the departure of several Avista Capital partners, Newton Aguiar, Robert Cabes and OhSang Kwon, earlier this year, according to a report by sister website peHUB.