Overview
Adam Garmezy is a corporate partner in the Houston and Austin offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. His practice focuses on strategic and financial transactions for public and private companies and private equity sponsors, including mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, private equity transactions, sales processes, venture capital investments, capital raises, carve-out divestitures, SPAC transactions and joint ventures, as well as corporate restructurings and workouts. He has extensive experience in a variety of industries, including energy (conventional and alternative), infrastructure, food ingredients, professional sports, manufacturing, real estate, aerospace, financial assets and software, hardware and technology.
Experience
Representative Matters
While at Kirkland, Adam's representative matters have included:
- Tailwater Capital in its sale of Tall Oak Midstream III to Summit Midstream (NYSE: SMC) for $450 million, including a 40% equity interest in Summit
- LM Energy in the sale of its natural gas gathering and transportation business in the Delaware Basin to Trace Midstream
- Energy Impact Partners in its partnership with OceanSound Partners to acquire Message Broadcast, a provider of customer engagement software for the electric utility industry
- Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners in its structured investment in The Pasha Group, a leader in maritime transportation
- KKR in its acquisition of a majority equity stake in Avantus, a premier developer of large utility-scale solar and solar-plus-storage projects
- The Heritage Group in EQT Infrastructure’s majority stake investment in Heritage Environmental Services
- LM Energy, a portfolio company of Old Ironsides Energy, in the carveout sale of its crude oil gathering business in the Delaware Basin
- SiO2 Medical Products, Inc.: Representing SiO2 Medical Products, Inc. and certain of its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. SiO2 is a material life sciences company that holds 245 patents, including its flagship technology that combines the best of glass and polymers without the drawbacks of either. SiO2 filed for Chapter 11 with a restructuring support agreement supported by 100% of its first lien lenders. The restructuring support agreement contemplates a $60 million new-money postpetition financing facility and equitization of the first lien lender’s DIP claims and first lien claims in exchange for 100% of the equity of the reorganized company, subject to a marketing process seeking higher and better proposals. The proposed restructuring will reduce the Company’s secured debt by nearly $250 million
- Arctos Sports Partners in connection with its investment in Real Salt Lake, a U.S. professional soccer team, and the club’s associated properties
- Arctos Sports Partners in connection with its investment in Serie A football club Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio
- Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: XPDI), a special purpose acquisition company, on its approximately $4.3 billion combination with Core Scientific Holding Co., a 100% net carbon neutral, vertically integrated blockchain infrastructure and mining company, and Blockcap, Inc., a leader in digital asset mining
- Private equity firm in connection with its investment in an innovative health technologies and wearable tech company with an enterprise value of approximately $800 million
- Rowan Companies plc in its $12 billion combination with Ensco plc in an all-stock transaction
- Strategic Value Partners, LLC in its acquisition of food ingredient and ethanol facilities and related businesses from White Energy, including the largest vital wheat gluten manufacturing facility in North America
- TPG Rise Climate in its lead investment Beta Technologies, a leading electric aviation business, in connection with a $375 million Series B equity raise by Beta Technologies
- Red Bluff Resources and Bricktown Energy on their sale to Citizen Energy of substantially all of their oil and gas properties, which included ~13,000 BOEPD (56% liquids), 200 operated wells and 739 non-op wells and ~80,000 net acres
- Saur Group in connection with its acquisition of Aqua-Chem Inc., a leading provider of engineered water purification solutions
- McGrath RentCorp in its strategic acquisition of substantially all assets of Design Space Modular Buildings PNW, LP, a leading modular building and portable storage provider in the Western U.S.
- Chesapeake Energy Corporation and 40 of its subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Chesapeake is a premier oil and natural gas exploration and production company with a high-quality, unconventional oil and natural gas asset portfolio, with substantial positions in top U.S. onshore plays. Chesapeake and its debtor-affiliates had more than $9 billion of funded debt obligations as of the commencement of their Chapter 11 cases. Prior to commencing the Chapter 11 cases, Chesapeake obtained commitments from certain of its secured creditors for over $4 billion of new capital, including a $925 million new money debtor-in-possession financing facility, a $600 million fully backstopped rights offering, and $2.5 billion of exit facilities as part of a comprehensive restructuring support agreement that would eliminate approximately $7 billion of Chesapeake’s funded debt obligations
- Private equity firm in connection with its acquisition of equity interests in the Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System at a valuation of $1.16 billion
- Arctos Sports Partners in its minority investment in Elevate Sports Ventures, a best-in-class sports and entertainment consulting firm
- Arctos Sports Partners in its minority investment in Jackpot, an online lottery platform business, in connection with its Series A equity raise
- Represented various sponsors and individuals in connection with the formation of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) and actively advising SPACs on potential Business Combination transactions
- Blackstone Energy Partners in its acquisition of a controlling, majority interest in Ulterra Drilling Technologies from affiliates of American Securities LLC
- Philadelphia Energy Solutions in its restructuring and related $225.5 million auction sale of 1,300+ acres real estate and certain other assets in downtown Philadelphia, PA
- Nine Energy Service, Inc. in its $493 million acquisition of Magnum Oil Tools International, Ltd.
- ArcLight Energy Partners Fund VI, L.P. in its subsidiary TLP Finance Holdings, LLC’s $536 million acquisition by merger of the outstanding common units that ArcLight and its affiliates do not currently own of TransMontaigne Partners L.P.
- Represented an ad hoc group of unsecured noteholders (the “Unsecured Ad Hoc Group”) in the Chapter 11 cases of Bristow Group Inc. and its affiliated debtors in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Bristow is a publicly-traded helicopter services company with funded debt obligations exceeding $1.7 billion. Following the filing of Bristow’s cases, Kirkland assisted the Unsecured Ad Hoc Group in negotiating an amended restructuring support agreement with Bristow and its secured creditors that resulted in a restructuring led by the Unsecured Ad Hoc Group that included a $385 million rights offering and noteholders taking control of the reorganized company
- ArcLight, Blackstone, KKR and Warburg Pincus in connection with various M&A transactions (including, among others, auction processes, bids and majority and minority investments), corporate governance and reorganization matters
- Arctos Sports Partners in connection with its numerous investments in and corporate matters related to the professional sports industry and adjacent facilities and technologies
- A large privately held power retailer in connection with multiple asset and real property divestitures
- Various companies in multiple sectors with respect to their general corporate governance matters, material contracts with new customers and suppliers, acquisitions and divestitures, large capital projects, securities issues and financings
- Represented Blackhawk Mining LLC and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Blackhawk is a leading metallurgical coal producer based in Lexington, Kentucky, and has operations primarily in West Virginia and Kentucky. Blackhawk employs more than 2,800 employees. Blackhawk entered Chapter 11 to implement a prepackaged plan of reorganization that will eliminate approximately $650 million of the Company’s nearly $1.1 billion in prepetition funded debt
- A private equity company in connection with its successful bond exchange in a privately held company
- The Beacon in connection with its merger with COMPASS (among various other pro bono matters)
Prior to joining Kirkland, Adam’s representative matters included:
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A private investment firm as a member in a private acquiring group’s $2.05 billion acquisition of an insurance company
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A private equity firm in the $230 million minority investment in a midstream terminal company
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A group of first lien bondholders in a § 363 sale of a coal mining company
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An upstream company in its $500 million acquisition of upstream assets
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A downstream company in its $838 million acquisition of a midstream company
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A solar power company in its $150 million § 363 sale
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A private equity firm in the $1.84 billion acquisition of an insurance company
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A media company in its $6.6 billion sale
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A U.S. insurance company in a joint venture with a Chilean insurance company
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A private equity firm in the $330 million acquisition of a pet supplies company
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A consumer products company in the $250 million acquisition of a healthcare company with a $35 million option to acquire an additional treatment asset
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A private equity and investment advisory firm in the $385 million acquisition of a consumer lending company
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An insurance company in a $150 million investment in an operating company
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A private equity portfolio company in the $56 million acquisition of a consumer products company
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A private equity portfolio company in the $20 million acquisition of a consumer products company
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An investment banking group as financial advisors to a media company in its proposed $52.4 billion acquisition of another media company
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An investment banking group as financial advisors to a healthcare company in its $11.6 billion sale
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An investment bank as financial advisor to a healthcare company in its $2.3 billion combination with another healthcare company
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An investment bank as financial advisor to a healthcare company in its $4.3 billion sale
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An investment bank as financial advisor to a healthcare company in its $710 million sale
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Numerous internal reorganizations and corporate governance matters for institutional clients
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Numerous auction bids for institutional private equity clients in the energy, healthcare, consumer products and insurance sectors
Prior Experience
Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP
More
Thought Leadership
Publications
Balancing Hydraulic Fracturing’s Environmental and Economic Impacts, 23 DUKE ENVTL. L. & POL’Y F. 405 (2013)
Memberships & Affiliations
State Bar of Texas
New York State Bar Association
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2014Texas
- 2018New York
Education
- Duke University School of LawJ.D.magna cum laude2014
Dean’s Scholar
Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy
Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum
- Amherst CollegeEconomics & Psychologymagna cum laude2011