Milbank LLP advised Ullico Infrastructure Fund (“Ullico”) in connection with the acquisition of GEP Bison Holdings, Inc., which owns 100% of the equity of Hearthstone Utilities, Inc. (“Hearthstone”), a holding company that owns and operates six natural gas local distribution companies across five states in the United States. Ullico acquired GEP Bison Holdings, Inc. from BlackRock Real Assets' Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Funds. The transaction was announced in January 2021.
Hearthstone serves over 83,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers across Indiana, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, and Ohio. Hearthstone distributes approximately 26 billion cubic feet of natural gas and operates approximately 3,300 miles of distribution and transmission pipelines.
The Milbank team was led by Global Corporate partners John Franchini and Aaron Stine and Global Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance partner Dan Michalchuk, along with Global Corporate associate Christina Sonageri and Global Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance associates Chad Richards, Katherine Hannah and Nicole Haddad. The team also included Tax partner Max Goodman and associate Michael Rivkin, Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits partner Joel Krasnow and associates James Beebe and Jon Sorger, Litigation and Arbitration partner Tawfiq Rangwala, of counsel Jane Hanson and associate Jeremy Butt, Environmental partner Matt Ahrens, Antitrust partner Fiona Schaeffer, regulatory advisor Jim Liles and Intellectual Property special counsel Nathaniel Browand.
