Quantum Energy Partners said it has just closed Fund VII with $5.575 billion of private equity, above its original hard cap. This is Quantum’s largest fund ever, some $1.1 billion more than its last raise, which was for Fund VI that closed in April 2015. Capital from the latter is largely deployed.

The first close for Fund VII was over a year ago and the Houston private equity firm continued raising capital as investor interest remained high, even in what’s been described as a generally tough environment for oil and gas fund raising, whether through private equity channels or public markets.

Wil VanLoh, Founder and CEO of Quantum, commented, “We are grateful and humbled by the continued trust and confidence our limited partners have shown our firm by entrusting us to steward their capital. We are also fortunate to be in business with some of the industry’s most successful entrepreneurs and continue to work hard to help them build sustainable and competitive enterprises.”

Dheeraj Verma, Quantum’s President, added, “The energy sector remains an attractive place for private capital to play an outsized role. We are excited about the next decade of energy growth and activity, particularly as North America will play a larger role in providing the world with low-cost and responsible energy."

Some 96% of the new fund’s capital is from repeat investors.

During the downturn in 2015 and 2016 while deploying Fund VI, Quantum was quite active. Since 2016 the firm has participated in more than $15 billion in transactions through dozens of property acquisitions, company exits and IPOs.

For example, in May 2017 Quantum-backed HG Energy LLC acquired upstream and midstream assets from Noble Energy in its exit from Appalachia for $1.2 billion. Private equity-backed teams that are growing have been frequent buyers of assets as the majors and large publics restructure their asset mix and narrow their play focus. In recent years, PE-backed buyers have accounted for more than 50% of the asset-buying cohort.

In December 2016 another Quantum portfolio company, Sentinel Peak Resources, acquired all of Freeport-MacMoRan’s California assets for $592 million.

One of Quantum’s more recent startups was an initial commitment made last summer of $300 million, to form Impact Exploration and Production Partners LLC in Denver. The company recently embarked on a drilling program after acquiring a large acreage position in the Powder River Basin.

On the sell side of the table, during the downturn several Quantum-backed companies made noteworthy exits. Vitruvian Exploration II was sold to Gulfport Energy Corp. for $1.85 billion. The company had been formed in 2012 with an initial commitment of $250 million, to work Oklahoma’s Scoop play. Likewise, Quantum-backed Vantage Energy LLC was sold for $2.7 billion to Rice Energy Inc. As a result, Quantum became the second-largest holder of Rice shares. It in turn was later sold to EQT Corp.

In January 2017, Quantum took Permian-focused Jagged Peak Energy public in a transaction valuing the company north of $3.0 billion.

Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to Quantum Energy Partners.