HOUSTON, June 1, 2011 — Rockwater Energy Solutions, Inc. announced today the closing of a combination transaction amongst four separate companies – Benchmark Performance Group, Inc., EnerMAX Services Limited Partnership, Red Oak Water Transfer, Inc. and Reef Services Holdings, Inc. – to form Rockwater Energy Solutions, Inc. (Rockwater). Houston-based Rockwater provides fluids management and environmental solutions to the energy industry in North America to uniquely address the special fluid and environmental-related challenges associated with modern day unconventional and conventional oil and gas resource development. As a result of the combination transaction, Rockwater will have a presence in each major shale basin in the U.S. and Western Canada and expects to generate approximately $800 million in annual pro forma revenues in calendar year 2011. Rockwater will employ 1,700 people.
Larry O’Donnell, Chairman, President and CEO of Rockwater, remarked, “This combination brings together a group of fluids management, chemical and logistics services companies that, combined, uniquely offer comprehensive fluid management and environmental solutions to our energy customers. Rockwater Energy Solutions is well positioned for continued growth in this very fragmented sector of the oilfield services industry, at a time when our customers, particularly those in the shale plays, desire more environmentally sound solutions for hydraulic fracturing. I am very proud of the strong management team and technology we have assembled at Rockwater. Each of these companies has achieved tremendous success in their own right. By working together, we can build on this experience and success to offer customized solutions to our customers’ water, stimulation, fracturing, fluids and production needs.”
Rockwater will continue to work closely with SCF Partners (SCF), an established provider of growth capital to the energy services and equipment sector for more than 20 years, to expand the coverage of its service offerings through organic growth and acquisitions. Rockwater already has an attractive pipeline of acquisition candidates, supporting the strong investment opportunities in this large and fast growing industry.
“We have an outstanding management team of seasoned professionals led by Larry O’Donnell,” added L.E. Simmons, president, SCF Partners. “We have been a shareholder in each of these companies and believe this combination paves the way for their continued growth, allowing us to offer a comprehensive fluids services company that is unique in the industry. We are confident Rockwater will develop into a leading fluids management and environmental solutions company.”
Already a majority owner of all four companies, SCF has committed $70 million of additional equity capital to support strategic growth initiatives in connection with the formation of Rockwater. A group of 12 major banks is providing a new $405 million, five-year revolving credit facility, with an additional $150 million accordion feature, to supply significant growth capital to Rockwater. This new bank group includes: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and HSBC as Co-Lead Arrangers, and Amegy Bank and JP Morgan Chase as Co-Managing Agents.
About Rockwater Energy Solutions www.rockwaterenergy.com
Rockwater Energy Solutions provides comprehensive fluids management services and environmental solutions, including water transfer by anti-leak pipe; production, stimulation, and specialty chemicals, including friction reducers, corrosion and scale inhibitors, and biocides; environmentally friendly hydraulic fracturing fluid components, such as food based guar and guar derivative products, and proprietary cross- linker technologies; pipeline additives; fluids management, logistics and transportation of fluids, proppants, and oilfield service products through its more than 600 trucks; transloading from rail and storage of sand and other proppant used in hydraulic fracturing; storage of crude oil and other fluids in its tank farms; and well testing and flow-back services. Rockwater is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and has over 1,700 employees. Rockwater operates through its four subsidiaries, Benchmark Performance Group, Inc., EnerMAX Services Limited Partnership, Red Oak Water Transfer, Inc., and Reef Services Holdings, Inc. More information about each of these subsidiaries can be found below.
About SCF Partners www.scfpartners.com
SCF Partners is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional offices in Calgary and Aberdeen. SCF has been providing equity capital and strategic growth assistance to the energy services and equipment industry for more than 20 years and typically provides initial growth capital to established businesses looking for a growth partner, often followed by incremental capital to support strategic acquisitions and internal growth initiatives. SCF seeks to partner with high-quality management teams running growing companies, and works with management to take exciting growth companies on a path to become leaders in their industry segments.
About Benchmark Performance Group, Inc. www.benchmark-research.com
Benchmark is a leading developer, manufacturer, and supplier of specialty chemicals for the oil well pressure pumping services industry, with research and manufacturing centers in Midland, Texas, Lovelady, Texas and Rock Springs, Wyoming, and distribution facilities in Arkansas, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Benchmark provides a broad suite of products combined with complete blending, distribution and logistics services. Benchmark’s primary product suite is focused on oil and gas well completions and stimulation activities, including frac fluids and specialty chemicals and cementing products. Benchmark is also a leading provider of guar, guar slurry, and guar derivative products (a food based product), and proprietary cross-linker technologies used in frac fluids. Benchmark currently holds over 40 process and application patents (with six others pending). Benchmark has been a key supplier to the “Big 3” service companies for approximately 30 years. Benchmark also has a sophisticated logistics network to manage and transport customers’ oilfield fluid-related supplies utilizing its fleet of over 100 trucks. Benchmark’s headquarters are located in Houston, Texas. Benchmark has approximately 300 employees.
About EnerMAX Services Limited Partnership www.enermaxservices.com
EnerMAX is a leading fluid management services provider offering fluid sales, storage, transport, pumping and recovery and disposal services from 26 service centers throughout Alberta, British Columbia and North Dakota. EnerMAX has over 7 million liters of fluid storage capacity, 2,000 pieces of rental equipment and a fleet of over 400 tank, vacuum, hydro-vac, pressure, hot-oiler and steamer trucks. EnerMAX stores crude oil and other fluids on a rental basis in its permanent tank farms, as well as offers for sale and distributes completion fluids, methanol, frac oil, hot and cold water and other oilfield fluids and chemicals. Additional EnerMAX services include crude and chemical transport, well batching, frac packages, drill site and tank rental, pipeline cleaning, tower, tank and equipment cleaning, pressure testing, fluid heating and fluid disposal services. EnerMAX also owns and operates sand and other proppant transloading facilities. EnerMax’s headquarters are in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. EnerMAX has approximately 650 employees.
About Red Oak Water Transfer, Inc. www.redoakwt.com
Red Oak provides 24 hour water management and transfer services to the oil and gas industry. Red Oak has transferred water within the Barnett, Marcellus, Eagle Ford and Haynesville shales for many different energy companies. Red Oak’s services include: providing pumps, 10“ aluminum pipe; and 8” anti-leak locking poly-resin pipe to supply water to support hydraulic fracturing treatments; single line pit to pit transfers; pump set-up for drilling rigs; fast-line or poly-pipe services; generator set up for water wells; electric pumps; a variety of silent pumps and reserve pit filtration service; and flow back, well testing, as well as other wellsite activities. Red Oak currently operates in the Marcellus, Barnett, Eagle Ford, and Granite Wash areas. Red Oak’s headquarters are in Ft. Worth, Texas. Red Oak has approximately 500 employees.
About Reef Services Holdings, Inc. www.reefcorp.com
Reef provides services and chemicals for oilfield production and stimulation, pipeline transmission, remediation, water management, mining and quarry operations. Reef’s services provide customers with the ability to return non-producing wells to productivity and to maximize well output. Reef’s products include production chemicals, stimulation additives, water treating chemicals, drilling fluid additives, and pipeline chemicals, such as biocides, corrosion and scale inhibitors, specialty products, and friction reducers. Reef’s headquarters are in Midland, Texas, and it operates blending facilities in Odessa, Texas, and Ada and Pawhuska, Oklahoma, with a new state of the art manufacturing and blending facility currently under construction in Tyler, Texas. Reef has distribution facilities throughout North America. Reef has approximately 250 employees.
Forward Looking Statements. Rockwater Energy Solutions, Inc. (the “Company”), from time to time, provides estimates of financial and other data, comments on expectations relating to future periods and makes statements of opinion, view or belief about current and future events. Statements relating to future events and performance are “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “potential,” “could,” “may,” “foresee,” “plan,” “goal” or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and assumptions about future events. These statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments as well as other factors it believes are appropriate under the circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from those implied or expressed by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, or if earlier, as of the date they were made. By issuing estimates or making statements based on current expectations, opinions, views or beliefs, the Company has no obligation, and is not undertaking any obligation, to update such estimates or statements or to provide any other information relating to such estimates or statements. Outlined below are some of the risks that the Company faces and that could affect the Company’s financial results for 2011 and beyond and that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that may be set forth in the forward-looking statements made by the Company. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The following are some of the risks that we face which could materially and adversely impact our business, financial results or results of operations: