Guggenheim Securities won, on December 8, the financial deal of the year award at the S&P Platts Global Energy Awards in New York. The firm was recognized for its role as sole structuring advisor, sole book-running manager and sole placement agent for PureWest Energy's $600 million energy securitization in November 2021.
This award serves as testament to the innovation and leadership of Guggenheim Securities across both its energy investment banking franchise and structured products origination group. The recognition represents the second time that the firm has won the award in three years, previously winning for the securitization of Diversified Gas & Oil, a US-based producer, who partnered with Guggenheim on the first-ever securitization of operated, proved developed producing oil and gas wells.
Guggenheim Securities structured and executed the first ever 144A securitization issuance in the upstream energy space for PureWest Energy in 2021. The transaction also represented the inaugural securitization transaction for PureWest - a private upstream oil and gas company and a leading developer of long life natural gas reserves in the Pinedale and Jonah Field of Wyoming's Green River Basin.
"Judges remarked on the intricate financial engineering of Guggenheim Securities' deal with PureWest Energy, feeling it fit the award's purpose of honoring exceptional creativity from capital and financial firms," editors wrote in S&P Global Commodity Insights. "This innovative transaction represents a significant step for energy producers who seek to effectively finance upstream assets with long-life, predictable production characteristics."
PureWest returned to the market with Guggenheim in 2022 with a follow-on securitization. The second offering, completed in August 2022,was comprised of $365 million of asset backed notes collateralized by a portion of PureWest's producing natural gas assets. The offering featured a combination of $210 million of 144A Class A1 Notes and $155 million of Class A2 Notes offered and sold as a 4(a)(2) private placement.
Consequently, S&P judges "saluted Guggenheim for 'opening the door on a new financial area for securitizing and doing deals in oil and gas.'"
"We are honored by the recognition from S&P Platts and the privilege of serving our clients in this important sector and more broadly across other sectors utilizing structured products," said Cory Wishengrad, Head of Fixed Income at Guggenheim Securities. Senior Managing Director Anuj Bhartiya, Structured Products Group in Investment Banking, added: "This transaction represents a landmark refinancing away from a traditional [Reserve Based Lending] facility into the investment grade institutional credit markets and the creation of an entirely new way for upstream companies to finance themselves by issuing notes secured by cash flows from their wells. While this transaction focused on existing assets owned by PureWest, it could be readily applied to other diversified portfolios with minor changes to structure."
NEW YORK, NY – March 11, 2024 -- Guggenheim Securities, the investment banking and capital mar...