ZACKARY PULLIN focuses his practice on federal income tax matters. He has extensive experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, private equity fund formations, restructurings, debt and equity offerings, and IPOs. Zack spends a significant amount of time advising clients in the energy industry on a multitude of oil, gas and mineral engagements, including joint development arrangements, depletion issues, taxable sale or lease transactions, and volumetric production payment transactions. He has represented various prominent private equity funds, oil and gas companies, and publicly traded partnerships and corporations. Zack has extensive experience structuring taxable and tax-free dispositions involving private and public company acquirors in the upstream and midstream energy space.
Partner
Zackary Pullin
- Tax
- Energy
- Private Equity
Experience
- Representative Matters
Zack’s representative experience includes:
- Represented Pearl Energy Investments, a Texas-based investment firm with US$1.9 billion of committed capital under management, in its initial capital commitment to Voyager Midstream Holdings, a newly formed independent midstream company headquartered in Houston and Midland, Texas, to pursue the acquisition and development of crude oil, natural gas, and produced water infrastructure across key North American supply basins.
- Represented GIC in connection with its commitment to NextDecade Corporation’s (NextDecade) (NASDAQ: NEXT) Phase 1, US$18.4 billion LNG project, winner of Project Finance International’s “Deal of the Year” award, 2024.
- Represented private equity funds and their sponsors in fund formations, mergers and acquisitions, and complex oil and gas upstream and midstream transactions.
- Assisting a well-known energy focused private equity fund in the disposition of a midstream company to a public acquiror in exchange for a mix of consideration, including stock and cash.
- Represented Tailwater Capital LLC in its acquisition by a Tailwater-led consortium of Verdad Resources Holdings LLC, an independent oil and gas exploration and development company with oil and gas assets in Colorado and Wyoming.
- Represented Ensign Natural Resources LLC, a private equity portfolio company, in the sale of its Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas interests to Marathon Oil Company (NYSE: MRO) for US$3 billion, including approximately 130,000 owned-and-operated gross acres and 700+ wells in South Texas.
- Represented JERA Americas Inc. in the US$2.5 billion purchase of a 25.7% equity ownership interest from Global Infrastructure Partners in Freeport LNG Development, L.P., which owns and operates a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on Quintana Island, near Freeport, TX, including three LNG liquefaction trains in commercial operation annually producing ~15.5 mtpa pre-bottlenecking and also a fourth liquefaction train in development.
- Represented Kimmeridge Energy Management Company, LLC, in its joint venture with Desert Royalty Company, LLC to create Desert Peak Minerals which created the largest Delaware Basin pure-play mineral and royalty company, with over 70,000 net royalty acres on a 1/8th royalty-adjusted basis (NRAs) across eight counties in west Texas and southeast New Mexico.
- Represented BP America Production Company in the sale of its oil and natural gas properties in Cleveland and McClain Counties, Oklahoma (SWOOP area) to Lime Rock Resources.
- Represented Presidio Investment Holdings LLC (Presidio Petroleum), a portfolio company of Morgan Stanley Energy Partners, in the largest to date by value securitization of oil and gas proved develop producing (PDP) assets.
- Represented Bodega Latina Corporation in its acquisition of Smart & Final Holdings, Inc. from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. for approximately US$620 million.
- Represented SAS Capital and its principal Susie A. Smith in connection with the sale of their one-third interest in KSA Industries, Inc., the indirect owner of the Tennessee Titans NFL franchise, and other related entities.
- Represented Third Coast Midstream in its sale of its Cushing, Oklahoma crude oil storage business, AMID Crude Oil Storage, to HCS Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Hartree Partners, LP.
- Represented Orion Mineral Royalty Fund and Anglo Pacific Group in their joint investment through the making of loans and purchases of royalty interests in an aggregate amount equal to US$140 million in a calcium carbonate mine located in the Dominican Republic and an associated processing facility located in Theodore, Alabama.
- Represented GIC Private Limited in the acquisition by affiliates of Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Enagas, GIC, NPS, and USS, of all of the publicly held outstanding Class A Shares of Tallgrass Energy LP.
- Represented Reliance Midstream, LLC in its sale of all of the equity interests of Reliance Gathering, LLC to a joint venture between affiliates of Oryx Midstream and Diamondback Energy, Inc. for a purchase price of US$355 million.
- Represented Drunk Elephant, a leading and fast-growing prestige skincare brand, in its US$845 million acquisition by Shiseido America Corporation.
- Represented Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Inc. in its sale of 100% of the membership interests of Leaf River Energy Center LLC to a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources Corporation for US$367.5 million.
- Represented Argo Infrastructure Partners in its agreement to acquire 100% of the equity interests of the holding companies owning the Oneta Power Generation Project, a 1,127-megawatt power plant in Coweta, Oklahoma, and the Carville Power Generation Project, a 516-megawatt power plant in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, from a portfolio company of LS Power Equity Partners.
- Represented Morgan Stanley Energy Partners and its portfolio company, Presidio Investment Holdings LLC, in Presidio’s acquisition of oil and natural gas producing properties in the western Anadarko Basin of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas from Apache Corporation and its affiliates.
- Represented Denham Capital Management in a definitive agreement for the sale of WhiteWater Midstream to funds managed by First Infrastructure Capital Advisors, LLC.
- Represented Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, in connection with its joint acquisition with the Blackstone Group of a controlling stake in midstream energy company Tallgrass Energy LP for US$3.3 billion.
- Represented I Squared Capital in the formation of a leading Delaware Basin midstream partnership with Blackstone Energy Partners and EagleClaw Midstream and the concurrent acquisition of Caprock Midstream and Pinnacle Midstream by EagleClaw, a transaction recognized as the 2019 “Energy, Power & Utilities Deal of the Year” by The Deal’s Middle Market Awards.
- Represented Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners in its simultaneous acquisition of power generation facilities in the northeastern United States from GenOn Energy Inc. for US$390 million and from NRG Energy Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
- Represented Carlyle Energy Mezzanine Opportunities Fund II, L.P. in its formation of a joint venture with CSL Capital Management to acquire the laboratory services business of Weatherford International PLC for US$205 million.
- Represented Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners in connection with a US$960 million equity financing for three joint ventures with Targa Resources that own interests in the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline, the Grand Prix NGL Pipeline and a new fractionation train located in Mont Belvieu, Texas.
- Represented GSO Capital Partners LP and 3Bear Energy, LLC, its portfolio company, in a transaction involving the anchor shipper on a gathering and processing system in the Northern Delaware Basin.
- Represented Blackstone Energy Partners and Sanchez Energy Corporation in their 50/50 partnership, definitive purchase agreement, and related financing to acquire Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s working interest in approximately 318,000 gross operated acres in the Western Eagle Ford for approximately US$2.3 billion.
- Represented global investment firm KKR on its investment in Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC, a leader in the ecological solutions market.
- Represented Energy Capital Partners Mezzanine Opportunities Fund in connection with its preferred equity investment in Ramaco Development, a Yorktown-backed metallurgical coal miner.
- Represented the Blackstone Group in connection with the formation of the Guidon Energy joint venture and the subsequent purchase of oil and gas assets in the Midland Basin.
- Represented the Blackstone Group in its US$1 billion capital commitment to Jetta Permian, LP, a Delaware basin-focused oil and gas exploration and production company.
- Represented the Carlyle Group in its US$1.2 billion investment in a joint venture with Hilcorp Energy Company to exploit natural gas and oil opportunities in the North American energy sector.
- Represented KKR Financial Holdings in the acquisition of overriding royalty interests in oil and gas properties in Texas.
- Represented Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co L.P. in the formation of a joint venture involving a carry with Comstock Resources, Inc. to develop acreage at Eagle Ford Shale.
- Represented clients in the acquisition and financing of mineral interests and in complex joint development arrangements.
- Represented East Resources in US$4.7 billion sale of natural gas and oil exploration and production operation to Royal Dutch Shell.
- Represented a large private global investment fund (Investor) in connection with its drilling participation arrangement with Gastar Exploration Inc., where the Investor agreed to jointly develop up to 60 Gastar-operated wells in the STACK play in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma.
- Represented Schlumberger Technology Corp in the formation of a joint venture involving a carry with Forest Oil Corp to develop leases at the Eagle Ford Shale.
- Represented Marathon Oil Corporation in the sale of its Alaskan assets.
- Represented Neftegaz Holding America Limited, an indirect subsidiary of OAO Rosneft, in the acquisition of oil and gas assets from ExxonMobil Corporation.
- Represented publicly-traded corporations, partnerships, and their sponsors in the oil and gas, midstream and shipping businesses in connection with initial public offerings, secondary offerings, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, and ongoing tax planning.
- Represented Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners in its investment in convertible preferred securities and common securities of Phillips 66 Partners as part of a US$1.05 billion issuance in connection with a dropdown of assets by Phillips 66 Partners’ general partner.
- Represented GE in the approximately US$750 million pending sale of Arc Logistics Partners LP and its general partner, Arc Logistics GP LLC, to Warburg Pincus and Zenith Energy U.S.
- Represented Linn Energy in multiple secondary equity offerings, ongoing tax planning, and in bankruptcy restructuring.
- Represented EQT Midstream Partners in its initial public offering of midstream assets in the Appalachian Basin.
- Represented Tallgrass Energy Partners, L.P. in its initial public offering.
- Represented Delek Logistics Partners, LP in an initial public offering of transportation pipeline and crude oil gathering assets.
*Some of the above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley.
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Credentials
Admissions & Certifications
- Texas
Education
- University of Florida Levin College of Law, LL.M., 2008
- Quinnipiac University School of Law, J.D., 2007 (magna cum laude)
- Quinnipiac University School of Business, MBA, 2007 (summa cum laude)
- University of Toledo, B.A., 2004