In an unusual alliance, a San Francisco private equity firm and France's leading petroleum research and development association have formed an exclusive arrangement to advise and fund turnaround candidates in the oil and gas industry in North America and Europe. They hope to play on consolidation trends and will focus on identifying companies that need consulting expertise and financial resources. The partners are Plantagenet Capital Management LLC, which specializes in buyouts, financial restructurings and industry consolidations, and the Institut Francais du Petrol (IFP) in Paris. Plantagenet has offices in Paris and Houston, as well as San Francisco. IFP is an independent center for research, education, training and information for the oil and gas and automotive industries worldwide. Its U.S. division, IFP Enterprises, is based in New York. "The energy industry is ripe for strategic investments in troubled companies that lack strong management and financial resources, but have strong assets," said C. Derek Anderson, senior managing partner of Plantagenet. "Working with IFP, a leading provider of consulting services to the global energy industry, we will endeavor to provide operational and capital insight not readily available elsewhere in a single package." For more information, contact John Zappettini of Plantagenet Capital at (415) 433-6536. -Leslie Haines