Gulf Coast Energy Resources, LLC Announces Additional Equity Financing

HOUSTON, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Gulf Coast Energy Resources (GCER) announced today that Quantum Energy Partners (QEP) and Global Reserve Group (GRG) will together provide an additional $125 million in equity commitment to grow the company.  This new commitment together with the approximately $250 million of equity from original investors (Warburg Pincus and GCER management team) brings the total equity line to $375 million.

The funds will be used to continue GCER's acquisition, exploration, and production activity along the Gulf Coast and offshore Gulf of Mexico.  This will include development of three new discoveries made by the company over the past few months.  Two of the finds are located in the onshore region of Texas, while one discovery lies in the offshore Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico.

Kevin Guilbeau, President and CEO of Gulf Coast Energy Resources stated, "We are pleased to have Quantum Energy Partners and Global Reserve Group join Warburg Pincus as investors in the Company. The combination of Quantum, Global and Warburg Pincus provides world-class energy investment experience to our company.  We are very excited about the expanded opportunity set we can now access via this additional equity.  GCER has experienced success in the acquisition and exploration arenas both onshore and offshore and we believe the conventional play continues to offer tremendous potential."

Wil VanLoh, President and CEO of Quantum stated, "Quantum is excited about the opportunity to partner with Warburg Pincus and the management team of GCER to build a best-in-class conventional-focused exploration company. Kevin Guilbeau has assembled a top notch team that has generated a high quality portfolio of exploration projects that should serve as a platform for significant value creation in the immediate term."

The company is currently drilling two wells and plans to drill 14 exploration wells in 2013.  This active drilling program will target onshore Texas and Louisiana as well as the offshore Shelf.  GCER is also interested in acquiring producing properties with drilling potential in these same areas.

About Gulf Coast Energy Resources:

Gulf Coast Energy Resources, LLC is a private- equity backed exploration and production company that was formed in 2010 and headquartered in Houston, Texas.  The Company's strategy is to acquire, exploit, and explore for oil and gas in the Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana. Contact Gulf Coast Energy Resources at 713-652-6701 or visit the Company's website at www.gcerllc.com.

About Warburg Pincus:

Warburg Pincus is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth.  The firm has more than $30 billion in assets under management.  Its active portfolio of more than 125 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography.  Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 13 private equity funds which have invested more than $35 billion in over 650 companies in more than 30 countries.

For more than two decades, the firm's energy group has provided over $6 billion of equity for companies around the world involved in oil and gas exploration and production, midstream, power generation, oilfield technology and related-services, and alternative energy development. Warburg Pincus has been the lead founding investor in several dozen oil and gas companies including Antero Resources, Bill Barrett Corporation, Broad Oak Energy, Encore Acquisition Company, Kosmos Energy, Laredo Petroleum, Newfield Exploration, Spinnaker Exploration and Targa Resources.

The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com.

About Quantum Energy Partners:

Founded in 1998, Quantum Energy Partners is a leading provider of private equity capital to the global energy industry, having managed together with its affiliates, more than $6.5 billion in equity commitments since inception. For more information on Quantum, please visit www.quantumep.com. For investor relations, please contact Michael Dalton at (713) 452-2000.

About Global Reserve Group, LLC: 

Global Reserve Group was launched in 2011 by Jeffrey Harris following a twenty-nine year career at Warburg Pincus to advise and invest in growing companies in the oil and gas industry around the world. In its first year the firm has closed on investments in four E&P companies in North America and Europe.  For further information, go to www.globalreservegroup.com.

SOURCE Gulf Coast Energy Resources, LLC