Michael K. Bassi

Mergers & Acquisitions

• EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) in its $8.8 billion midstream joint venture with Blackstone Credit & Insurance.
• Legence, a Blackstone portfolio company, in its acquisition of AMA Group, a national engineering services firm.
• Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in its approximately $1 billion investment in a portfolio of wind and solar projects with NextEra Energy Resources.
• Blackstone in its acquisition of Power Grid Components, Inc.
• Legence, a Blackstone portfolio company, in its acquisition of A.O. Reed & Co., a leading specialty mechanical contractor focused on decarbonizing the built environment.
• Allied Group Holdings, LLC, a Bernard Capital Partners portfolio company, in its acquisition of Dominion Engineering, Inc.
• Bernhard Capital Partners in the sale of Charah Solutions Inc., a provider of environmental services and byproduct recycling to the power generation industry, to SER Capital Partners.
• Ranger Oil Corporation (NASDAQ: ROCC) in its $2.5 billion acquisition by Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX, NYSE: BTE).
• Delaware Basin Resources on its sale to Vitol’s U.S. upstream company, VTX Energy Partners, LLC, for an undisclosed sum.
• Legence, a Blackstone portfolio company, in its acquisition of Black Bear Energy, a technology-enabled, commercial buyer’s representative specializing in onsite renewable energy and cleantech services.
• Array Technologies (Nasdaq: ARRY) in its acquisition of Soluciones Técnicas Integrales Norland, S.L., one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of solar trackers.
• Blackstone in the formation of a next generation media company led by leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs.
• Therma Holdings, a Blackstone portfolio company, in its acquisitions of CMTA and Building Systems Holdings. 
• Alta Resources in the $2.925 billion sale of its upstream and midstream subsidiaries for cash and public stock consideration to EQT Corp.
• Wyndham Destinations on its acquisition of the Travel + Leisure brand and related assets from Meredith Corporation.
• Blackstone Energy Partners on its acquisitions of Therma Holdings LLC, a leading specialty mechanical, electrical and controls services company, and of RE Tech Advisors, Inc., a leading energy and sustainability consulting firm, to form a single combined company that will offer customers a comprehensive suite of sustainability, carbon reduction, and energy management services.
• Penn Virginia Corporation (NASDAQ: PVAC) in Juniper Capital Advisors, L.P.’s $188 million strategic investment in the company, including $150 million of cash and certain oil and gas assets, in exchange for 59 percent of Penn Virginia’s equity.
• WPX Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WPX) in its $12 billion all-stock merger of equals with Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN).
• Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS) on its all-stock business combination with Era Group Inc. (NYSE: ERA).
• Optio Rx, LLC, a national specialty pharmaceutical service provider and affiliate of Cold Bore Capital, in its acquisition of Baybridge Pharmacy Corp., 121 Central Pharmacy Corp., Delco Pharmacy Corp. and Sparta Rx, LLC.
• Parsley Energy, Inc. (NYSE: PE) in its $2.27 billion all-stock acquisition of Jagged Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: JAG).

Capital Markets

• Vine Energy Inc. (NYSE: VEI), in its initial public offering, resulting in an aggregate net proceeds received by Vine of $324 million.
• Underwriters in the $110 million follow-on equity offering by Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ: GLNG).  
• Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), the largest television station owner in the United States with 197 stations in 115 markets addressing nearly 63% of US television households, in its $1 billion offering of senior notes.
• Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: FET), a global oilfield products company, in its issuance of $315 million of Convertible Senior Secured Notes in exchange of approximately $328 million of existing unsecured notes.
• Northern Oil & Gas, Inc. (NYSE: NOG) in various private securities exchange transactions of Notes and Preferred Stock for shares of Common Stock.
• The initial purchasers in connection with Parsley Energy, LLC and Parsley Finance Corp.’s offering of $400 million in senior notes due 2028.

Restructuring

• Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NASDAQ: OAS) and its affiliates in prepackaged Chapter 11 cases filed in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to restructure approximately $2.3 billion in debt obligations. Oasis is a Houston, Texas based company that operates in the upstream and midstream oil and gas sectors. Oasis also operates a midstream business segment and holds a majority interest non-debtor subsidiary Oasis Midstream Partners LP, which is a publicly traded master limited partnership. The Chapter 11 plan equitizes more than $1.8 billion of unsecured debt and provides for committed DIP to exit financing.
• Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: WLL) and certain of its affiliates (collectively “Whiting”) in connection with Whiting’s prearranged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Whiting is a Denver-based publicly traded independent exploration and production company with an oil focused asset base, employing approximately 500 employees and with funded debt of approximately $3.4 billion as of the Chapter 11 filing. Whiting entered into a restructuring support agreement with its unsecured noteholders, which contemplated a Chapter 11 plan that would provide 97% of the reorganized equity to noteholders and other holders of general unsecured claims, while still providing a recovery to existing equity holders in the form of the remaining 3% of reorganized equity. Through the deal reached with Whiting’s lenders and noteholders, Whiting will delever its balance sheet by eliminating over $2.7 billion of funded debt.
• J. C. Penney Company, Inc. and 17 of its affiliates in their pre-arranged Chapter 11 cases. JCPenney, an iconic American retail staple tracing its roots back to 1902, includes private brands such as Liz Claiborne, St. John’s Bay, Stafford, and Arizona Jean Co. JCPenney employs more than 85,000 people, manages a massive supply chain with nearly 3,000 vendors and eleven domestic shipping facilities, and operates approximately 850 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, in addition to a substantial e-commerce business. With approximately $4.9 billion in debt, JCPenney entered bankruptcy with a Restructuring Support Agreement that carries broad first lien stakeholder support and is expected to substantially de-lever the company’s balance sheet.
• Bruin E&P Partners, LLC and its subsidiaries in connection with their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Bruin is an exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas, with assets in the Williston Basin in North Dakota. Through their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases, Bruin will eliminate over $840 million in funded debt obligations. Bruin filed its cases with a restructuring support agreement signed by 100% of its prepetition revolving lenders and over 67% of its senior noteholders that included a $230 million DIP commitment and an exit revolver with $230 million in aggregate commitments.

Mike Bassi is a former Army Ranger. Mike served for 9 years as an active-duty infantry officer and 4 years as a recruiter and operations officer for the National Guard. In the course of his duties, Mike led special operations, airborne and cavalry units in combat operations, multinational missions in Eastern Europe and attended numerous training and development courses. Mike’s military decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (2), Meritorious Service Medal (2), Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star (3), Combat Infantryman Badge, Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Air Assault Badge and several others.

Summer Associate, Reed Smith LLP, Pittsburgh, 2018

Summer Associate, Reed Smith LLP & PNC Bank, Pittsburgh, 2017

Summer Associate, Guggenheim Partners LLP, Institutional Finance, Chicago, 2016