McGuireWoods LLP issued the following announcement on Aug. 26.
McGuireWoods continues to strengthen its Texas oil and gas industry capabilities with the arrival of partner Patrick Knapp, who brings nearly a decade of experience representing domestic and international energy companies in major deals to the firm’s Dallas and Houston offices.
Knapp, who joins the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice, structures commercial, corporate and financing transactions for upstream, midstream and downstream companies. He represents producers, marketers, logistics providers and refiners in the United States, Canada and Mexico in complicated international deals.
Knapp served as managing counsel for Bridger Logistics, the midstream division of Ferrellgas Partners LP, from 2014 to 2018. In that role, he led a series of high-profile M&A transactions, including more than 30 asset and equity carve-out divestitures.
After leading the divestiture and wind-down of the entire midstream division in 2018, Knapp joined Dallas’ Robert Anderson Law, where he represented Bridger purchasers and spinoff businesses in M&A, corporate governance, regulatory and commercial matters.
“Pat’s impressive deal experience and his success helping oil and gas companies manage day-to-day operational and legal issues will provide powerful advantages for our clients,” said Ryan Purpura, leader of McGuireWoods’ energy industry team.
“Pat has a client’s perspective on the industry’s competitive and regulatory landscape, which is so important to helping companies and investors achieve their business goals,” added Michael Woodard, chair of the firm’s M&A and Corporate Transactions Department.
Knapp’s arrival follows the recent addition of Houston partner Eric Schlichter, who has nearly two decades of experience litigating matters for clients in the oil and gas and technology industries. Knapp’s industry experience also enhances the firm’s ability to serve its expanding private equity client base, said Akash Sethi, managing partner of the Dallas office.
“We look forward to leveraging Pat’s market insight and building on our reputation for delivering world-class service to institutional and individual investors,” Sethi said.
The firm’s energy industry team includes more than 200 lawyers who work across all sectors of the industry. McGuireWoods consistently ranks among the top law firms in league tables for M&A, including private equity. The firm remained a dominant player advising clients in M&A transactions through the first half of 2019, earning top five rankings for U.S. deal count and top 10 rankings for global transactions in league tables published by Refinitiv and Bloomberg.
“McGuireWoods has established itself as a leader in innovative, industry-focused client service and the firm’s Texas offices play a vital role,” Knapp said. “I look forward to putting my experience to work to build on that success for clients.”