Barrett Resources Corp. may have been swallowed up by Williams last year, but Bill Barrett, the founder, chairman and former CEO, is aiming to make another “Barrett” company a successful natural gas-rich independent. In fact, if all goes as planned, the new company, Bill Barrett Corp., could go public in 12 to 36 months, focusing on what worked extremely well the first time: growth through the drill bit with a focus on the Rocky Mountains.

Barrett, 73, who retired from Barrett Resources before it merged with Williams last August, said the one thing that could have brought him back and did bring him back was a chance to work with his sons. Two are geologists and one is a landman. After the Williams deal had been completed, Barrett said he told them that if they ever had any interest in doing something together, he might join them. Son Fred called him in early November 2001 with a plan he quickly accepted.

Relying on the business model he used to build Barrett Resources into one of the leading U.S. independents, Bill Barrett said Fred began building the foundation for a new company. They were joined by son, Terry, who is now exploration manager for the company’s North District. (A third son, who went to work for Williams following the merger, decided to remain where he was.) Besides his sons, Bill Barrett said he also wanted another chance to work with some of the team who helped him build Barrett Resources.

“For me, putting this new company together…[is] the opportunity of getting involved with a group of guys I’ve been with for the last 20 years,” he said in an interview with NGI on Thursday.

The newly formed company is now official, after closing recently on financing for approximately $107.5 million from management, private equity investors and institutional and private investors. Along with the initial financing, the company also secured certain provisional commitments totaling an additional $175 million from private equity investors — Warburg Pincus was lead investor along with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and JP Morgan Partners. Additional private equity financing was provided by State Farm Insurance, Colorado PERA and Palantir Capital.

Some of the funds have been directed toward a $73 million acquisition with “several probable and producing natural gas properties” in the Wind River Basin of Wyoming, where Barrett claimed some of his greatest successes. “Historically, every two or three years, you try and end up with a company-maker type of a project,” he said. “Those are the types of things we will get ourselves involved with.”

To build the company to the strength that he said it needs, Barrett said the company is in an “acquisition mode,” and promised more acquisitions to come. Although he could not divulge details of the acreage already obtained, he said, “Significant lease position was one of the things we were after. I had a lot of success in Wind River over the years, and a lot of us know a whole lot about it. There is significant upside to what we’ve got.”

Within the next four months, he believes Bill Barrett Corp. will begin drilling. “We have three acquisitions pretty far along, including some acreage in the Uinta Basin, which we’ll close at the end of this month.” Another property is a lease acquisition project, which the company has signed a letter of intent on. “We’re extremely fortunate to have the properties we have. They will all be very beneficial to the company.”

Fred Barrett, “who came up with the idea,” according to his father, is president of the corporation. Other people who have joined the management team include former Barrett Resources’ executives Bob Howard, now CFO, and Frank Keller, COO.

“I’d like to think the management team’s record of performance was the primary attraction for creating this venture with the highly regarded private equity investors,” said Barrett. “Our ability to acquire the Wind River Basin assets is a reflection on our new company’s long-term strategy of finding gas at low costs in one of the most prolific gas-producing regions in the world — the Rocky Mountains of the United States.”

As a start-up venture, Barrett said he “couldn’t be happier with the rapid progress we’ve made on our business plan.” The company has “reached virtually all of our short-term goals we set starting out, and with the strong support and counsel of Warburg Pincus, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan, we’re progressing toward the steps needed to take the company to the next level.”

Of course, the elder Barrett realizes that his name is bringing a lot to the table. Though he is modest about how much cache his reputation will mean to the company’s success — he noted it had been “helpful” in securing financing — he was quick to praise the management team now in place. “These other guys are a good part of what built Barrett Resources,” he said.

As far as a blueprint for the next few years, he said, “I’d like to see us take this public in the next 12 to 36 months. I know we need a certain size asset base, and from what I can see that we have available to us, we have a good shot at being in that position.”

Howard Newman, vice chairman of Warburg Pincus, who spoke on behalf of the investors, said, “We are pleased to be partnering with this proven and talented management team in order to take advantage of the large potential natural gas reserves in the Rocky Mountains. This transaction combines a strong management team, a strong investor group and a focused, exploration business model. It’s a formula with a strong proven track record.”

Asked how long he planned to help run the new corporation, Barrett said he would stay as long as his health was good — and he was quick to add that his health was good — but said that he hopes he can mentor those around him and leave them with a successful company in “about five years.”

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