Hess Energy Trading Company LLC (HETCO), a leading global marketer and trader of energy commodities, announced that funds managed by Paul, Weiss client Oaktree Capital Management L.P. will acquire an interest in the firm held by Hess Corporation. HETCO, which will be renamed, is led by founding partners Stephen Hendel and Stephen Semlitz and partner Guy Merison, all of whom will remain in their current positions. Following the close of the transaction, Oaktree will be the only outside investor in HETCO.
Under the terms of the transaction, Oaktree will provide initial working capital to HETCO. In addition, Oaktree has committed up to $500 million of additional capital for HETCO to make potential new investments in the commodity space. Other financial terms of the transaction, expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, were not disclosed.
The Paul, Weiss team included corporate partners Kenneth Schneider, Eric Goodison, Neil Goldman and Manuel Frey; employee benefits partner Andrew Gaines and counsel Erin Murphy; and tax partners Richard Bronstein and Patrick Karsnitz.