Firms & Funds

Senior dealmaker Andrew Ward leaves Riverstone

-
Special purpose acquisition companies, SPACs, Riverstone, private equity, mergers, M&A
A technician opens a pressure gas valve inside the Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) group gathering station on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on March 2, 2012. Photo courtesy Reuters/Amit Dave
  • Andrew Ward resigned Friday: sources
  • Not clear why dealmaker left
  • Riverstone has been in market with sixth flagship fund

Andrew Ward, a senior dealmaker at Riverstone Holdings, has left the firm, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Why Ward left is unclear. Ward, who was a partner, resigned Sept. 30, the sources said.

Jeffrey Taufield, a spokesman for Riverstone, declined to comment.

Ward joined the firm in 2002. He was responsible for energy investments with an emphasis on the midstream sector, according to his biography on Riverstone’s website. Ward also was a member of investment and the management committees at the firm.

Ward’s past deals include Bridger, Buckeye, Gibson Energy, HES International, Kinder Morgan, Magellan, Mistral Energy and USA Compression, his bio showed.

Prior to Riverstone, Ward was a partner and managing director at Hyperion Partners/Ranieri & Co. Before that, he was an associate within Merrill Lynch’s high-yield finance group.

Riverstone, run by Pierre Lapeyre and David Leuschen, has been in the market since 2014, raising its sixth flagship energy fund, targeting $8 billion. Last July, Riverstone filed a Form D showing it had raised about $4.2 billion for Fund VI.

The firm raised $7.7 billion for Fund V, a 2012 vintage. In recent years performance on Fund V has dropped dramatically in line with the collapse in oil prices. The fund had a 31.8 percent IRR and a 1.5x multiple as of Sept. 30, 2014, California Public Employees’ Retirement System data showed. But as of March 31, Fund V produced an IRR of -2.8 percent and a multiple of 1x, CalPERS reported.

Riverstone also has been raising its debut credit opportunities fund, targeting $1 billion since last year, Buyouts has reported. The status of that fundraising is unclear.

Update: This report has been updated to include information that Ward was a member of the investment and management committees at Riverstone.

Action Item: See Riverstone’s Form ADV here: http://bit.ly/2dQslVZ

A technician opens a pressure gas valve inside the Oil and Natural Gas Corp group gathering station on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on March 2, 2012. Photo courtesy Reuters/Amit Dave