Is there a place for private equity in the minerals & royalties space?

3 December 2020 | 9am CST

Is there a place for private equity in the minerals & royalties space?  Many pundits in the industry don’t think there is, arguing that minerals are an asset class better suited for longer-term capital with holding periods of 10-15+ years.  Billions of dollars in private equity have been deployed in the minerals & royalties space since 2014 and many argue that this money will be unable to find an exit, given the limited number of established end-buyers and the ongoing challenges of going public. 

Whether you agree with this or not, the successful exits of Wing Resources (NGP), Santa Elena Minerals (Encap), Haymaker (Kayne Anderson), Springbok Energy (NGP), Osprey/Falcon (Blackstone), Brigham Minerals (Pine Brook/Yorktown/Warburg Pincus) and others cannot be ignored.  Furthermore, the three largest minerals transactions of 2020 have been led by Pegasus Resources (EnCap) acquiring $100mm in Permian minerals from Black Stone Minerals, Sixth Street Partners acquiring $402mm in Marcellus ORRIs from Antero Resources, and Kimmeridge Energy acquiring $140mm in Permian ORRIs from Callon Petroleum.