Over 25 years of experience guiding public and private companies and private equity funds in strategic corporate transactions.
Advised on more than 100 mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and capital raising transactions.

Rob represents companies and private equity investors in complex corporate transactions. With a strong focus on the traditional & renewable energy and infrastructure industries, he guides clients through the nuances of public and private mergers & acquisitions, venture capital and growth equity investments, joint ventures and corporate governance matters.

Clients trust Rob to provide practical and proactive advice during the course of highly consequential deals. He regularly advises on cutting-edge transactions to support clients seizing opportunities in the energy transition, including in connection with carbon capture, sequestration and utilization, hydrogen, utility-scale solar and energy storage, renewable natural gas and geothermal projects.

While in law school, Rob served as editor-in-chief of the Houston Law Review.

Representative Work

Mergers & Acquisitions

Represented Innovex, a leading provider of mission-critical technologies and services across the well lifecycle for the oil & gas industry, in its definitive agreement to merge with Dril-Quip (NYSE: DRQ).
Advised Excelsior Energy Capital, a leading independent North American renewable energy investor, in its acquisition of Faraday Solar, a 682.5-MW ground-mounted solar facility in Utah, from Parasol and Clenera. The investment represents the largest investment made by Excelsior’s first flagship fund, Excelsior Renewable Energy Investment Fund I.
Advised Spire Inc. in its agreement to acquire MoGas Pipeline, an interstate natural gas pipeline, and Omega Pipeline, a connected gas distribution system, from CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust, Inc., for $175 million.
Represented CenterPoint Energy Inc. in its agreement to sell Energy Systems Group, its wholly-owned subsidiary that specializes in providing energy efficiency and sustainable energy solutions, to ESG Holdings Group, LLC, an affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management, for $157 million.
Counseled SLB in its acquisition of Gyrodata Incorporated, a global company specializing in gyroscopic wellbore positioning and survey technology.

Advised CenterPoint Energy in its $6-billion acquisition of Vectren Corporation, a power and gas utility operating in Indiana and Ohio.
Represented Vitol Green Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Vitol, a world-leading independent trader of energy and related commodities, in its sale to Amp Americas of renewable natural gas projects involved in the conversion of dairy waste into carbon-negative renewable transportation fuel and power.
Advised CenterPoint Energy in the $400-million sale of its natural gas retail business, CenterPoint Energy Services Inc., to Energy Capital Partners LLC.
Advised EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC, a portfolio company of Blackstone Energy Partners, in its $950-million acquisition of Caprock Midstream Holdings, a portfolio company of Energy Spectrum Capital. Through this acquisition, EagleClaw became the largest privately held midstream operator in the Permian Basin.
Represented SLB in the $430-million acquisition of Weatherford International’s U.S. pressure pumping and pump-down perforating business.
Represented a national insurance agency in connection with the sale of a minority interest to a global reinsurance group.
Counseled a leading oilfield services company in its acquisition of a proppant mining operation in West Texas from a private equity seller.
Represented the country’s largest retail electricity provider in the $270-million acquisition of a Texas-based retail electricity provider.

Joint Ventures, Venture and Growth Capital

Represented Excelsior Energy Capital in the formation of a joint venture with an approximately $400-million equity commitment to acquire construction-ready battery energy storage projects from a battery energy storage developer’s development pipeline within the ERCOT territory.
Represented Vitol as the lead investor in the $100-million Series C investment round of FlexGen Power Systems Inc., a leading integration services and software technology provider for energy storage solutions in the U.S. and globally.
Represented Schlumberger New Energy, a new SLB business focused on low-carbon and carbon-neutral energy technologies, in several transactions, including its—
- Agreement with Thermal Energy Partners to create GeoFrame Energy, a geothermal project development company.
- Investment and collaboration agreement to deploy EnerVenue’s nickel-hydrogen battery technology across selected global markets.
- Joint venture with Chevron Corporation, Microsoft and Clean Energy Systems to develop a ground-breaking bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration project designed to produce carbon negative power in Mendota, California and qualify for the Section 45Q tax credit.
Represented Blackstone Credit in connection with a $1.6-billion investment by funds managed by GSO and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities in exchange for a 45% interest in Targa Badlands LLC, the entity that holds Targa’s assets in the Williston Basin in North Dakota.
Represented a principal stockholder in connection with the business combination of Nauticus Robotics Inc. and CleanTech Acquisition Corp., and the related PIPE investment.

Advised CenterPoint Energy in its $6-billion acquisition of Vectren Corporation, a power and gas utility operating in Indiana and Ohio.
Represented Vitol Green Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Vitol, a world-leading independent trader of energy and related commodities, in its sale to Amp Americas of renewable natural gas projects involved in the conversion of dairy waste into carbon-negative renewable transportation fuel and power.
Advised CenterPoint Energy in the $400-million sale of its natural gas retail business, CenterPoint Energy Services Inc., to Energy Capital Partners LLC.
Advised EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC, a portfolio company of Blackstone Energy Partners, in its $950-million acquisition of Caprock Midstream Holdings, a portfolio company of Energy Spectrum Capital. Through this acquisition, EagleClaw became the largest privately held midstream operator in the Permian Basin.
Represented SLB in the $430-million acquisition of Weatherford International’s U.S. pressure pumping and pump-down perforating business.
Represented a national insurance agency in connection with the sale of a minority interest to a global reinsurance group.
Counseled a leading oilfield services company in its acquisition of a proppant mining operation in West Texas from a private equity seller.
Represented the country’s largest retail electricity provider in the $270-million acquisition of a Texas-based retail electricity provider.

Joint Ventures, Venture and Growth Capital

Represented Excelsior Energy Capital in the formation of a joint venture with an approximately $400-million equity commitment to acquire construction-ready battery energy storage projects from a battery energy storage developer’s development pipeline within the ERCOT territory.
Represented Vitol as the lead investor in the $100-million Series C investment round of FlexGen Power Systems Inc., a leading integration services and software technology provider for energy storage solutions in the U.S. and globally.
Represented Schlumberger New Energy, a new SLB business focused on low-carbon and carbon-neutral energy technologies, in several transactions, including its—
- Agreement with Thermal Energy Partners to create GeoFrame Energy, a geothermal project development company.
- Investment and collaboration agreement to deploy EnerVenue’s nickel-hydrogen battery technology across selected global markets.
- Joint venture with Chevron Corporation, Microsoft and Clean Energy Systems to develop a ground-breaking bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration project designed to produce carbon negative power in Mendota, California and qualify for the Section 45Q tax credit.
Represented Blackstone Credit in connection with a $1.6-billion investment by funds managed by GSO and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities in exchange for a 45% interest in Targa Badlands LLC, the entity that holds Targa’s assets in the Williston Basin in North Dakota.
Represented a principal stockholder in connection with the business combination of Nauticus Robotics Inc. and CleanTech Acquisition Corp., and the related PIPE investment.

Education
J.D., University of Houston Law Center, magna cum laude, 1994
B.B.A., University of Texas at Austin, with high honors, 1991

Bar Admissions
Texas

Recognitions

The Legal 500 US, Capital Markets: Debt: Advice to issuers, Energy: Transactions: Oil and gas and M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m), 2019.
The Best Lawyers in America, Mergers & Acquisitions Law, 2016- 2018.

Affiliations and Public Service

Member, Houston Bar Association M&A Section Council.
Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Speeches and Publications

Co-Presenter, “Getting the Deal Done: Navigating Key Legal Issues in M&A Transactions,” The Association of Corporate Counsel, Houston, Texas, May 2019.
Panelist, “Energy SPACs: Recent Deals and Trends” CLE, Houston, March 20, 2019.
Panelist, “Akin Gump Jeopardy! Ethics in Antitrust and M&A,” Houston, November 13, 2018.
Panelist, “Outside Counsel Perspectives, CenterPoint Energy,” Outside Counsel Forum, Houston, June 2018.