Deal makers are excited because advances in drilling technology such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing or fracking have made it easier to extract natural gas from shale and other rock formations, creating opening for private equity firms to place big bets in a capital hungry business. Reference is made to the following graph to illustrate the M&A activity in the U.S. shale business. The experts agree that the time to get in the play was over the past few years; however, recent windfalls indicate the gamble is still worth the effort with energy related investments showing gains of more than 30% in each of the past two years and have beaten industry overseas for 12 of the past 14 years according to Cambridge Associates.
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The Energy Practice Group is a multi-disciplinary group of investment banking advisors within Corporate Finance Associates. Collectively, the Energy Practice Group provides M&A advice to independent and integrated energy companies in all sectors of the energy industry, including power generation, oil & gas, utilities, mining and natural resources, renewable energy and businesses that serve the energy industry, in all aspects of oil and gas land-based transactions, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and financial resources. For more information contact your local Corporate Finance Associates office.