In short: Sourced through a person, not a screen: "I was introduced to NG by a speaker at the conference this year, Keith Hill, who's an absolute superstar. Keith Hill built a lot of the Lundin business in offshore emerging markets. I've done business with Keith for 35 years… He made me a boatload of money." Rick knows both assets first-hand — "the Venezuelan asset, which I've been involved in before… and the Colombian asset. And so I like the assets. I like the people who run the assets." There is an undisclosed anchor: "a large shareholder… this family is a household name in the energy business… It stands to reason that they are likely to get this Venezuelan concession." The structure of the bet: "there is a lot of work for them to do in Colombia. But the upside, the icing on the cake, is Venezuela" — where his own record is a warning, "I've been involved in four exploration projects in Venezuela. And I've had four exploration successes… And I've had all four successes nationalized." Ongoing oversight is outsourced: "I have Keith Hill, who is also invested in the company, monitoring it on my behalf." Explicit risk gate: "don't own this one if bad headlines out of Venezuela will freak you out, because you will get them."
NG Energy produces natural gas in Colombia and is trying to secure a concession in Venezuela. Rick did not find it on a screen; it was brought to him by Keith Hill, who "built a lot of the Lundin business" and with whom he has done business for 35 years. He knows both assets personally from earlier in his career.
The structure of the investment is a business plus an option. Colombia is the business — "there is a lot of work for them to do in Colombia." Venezuela is the option — "the icing on the cake" — and it hinges on an undisclosed control shareholder, a US family that is "a household name in the energy business," whose weight makes the concession likely.
He is unusually explicit about the downside because it has happened to him personally, four times: "I've been involved in four exploration projects in Venezuela. And I've had four exploration successes… And I've had all four successes nationalized." Nationalisation means the government simply takes the asset. He manages the risk by outsourcing the monitoring to Keith Hill, who is also a shareholder, and he draws a line for everyone else: "don't own this one if bad headlines out of Venezuela will freak you out, because you will get them."
44:11That's my initial due diligence. What do you have to say about them? — I was introduced to NG by a speaker at the conference this year, Keith Hill, who's an absolute superstar. Keith Hill built a lot of the Lundin business — Woo. — in offshore emerging markets. I've done business with Keith for 35 years.
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