Tailwater Capital , an energy-focused private equity firm based in Dallas, has made a USD100 million initial equity commitment to TopSail Energy (TopSail), a newly-formed portfolio company that will primarily focus on purchasing and developing various refined products logistics and processing assets in North America.
Jim Lelio will serve as Chief Executive Officer. He brings over 21 years of midstream and downstream oil and gas experience and relationships to the Company. Mr. Lelio has spent the past 15 years serving in senior roles at Kinder Morgan. He has spent a majority of his career focused on refined products and biofuels transportation, storage, and terminaling operations.
David Cecere, Principal at Tailwater Capital, says: “Jim and the TopSail team bring a wealth of experience and relationships in the downstream and refined products subsectors, a key area of focus for Tailwater going forward. We see tremendous opportunity in the current energy landscape for TopSail’s strategy and we are thrilled to partner with such highly respected individuals.”
Lelio says: “We are excited to partner with Tailwater on this new venture. We believe their midstream expertise and growth mindset will greatly contribute to the success of our Company.”
Lelio will be joined by a veteran management team, including: Derrick Bockius, COO, and Jason Aguirre, Director of Business Development. Over the past ten years, Bockius has overseen construction and operations of several large midstream projects, including Kinder Morgan’s transmix facility in St Louis, Missouri, Kinder Morgan’s condensate splitter facility in Galena Park, Texas, and Magellan Midstream’s condensate splitter facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. Aguirre most recently served as a Business Development Manager at Kinder Morgan and has over eight years of oil and gas finance and accounting experience.
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“We invest heavily in our portfolio companies, well before transactions close, and pride ourselves in bringing together world-class teams who bring expertise and real-world experience in every functional discipline,” says Kelly.
