Investment Bank Plans Energy Fund
By RAJIV VYAS
Irvine-based C.K. Cooper & Co. plans to hit the road this month to raise $5 million for a fund investing in energy companies.
The fund, The Paladin Capital Partners II, is set to be C.K. Cooper’s second. The firm plans to raise money from institutional and wealthy investors,those with a net worth of $1 million or more. The minimum investment is $20,000.
The fund’s managers plan to buy stock in smaller private and publicly traded oil exploration and production companies.
“It is an excellent time to invest in energy companies right now,” said Steven Sadleir, co-manager and head of institutional sales and the private client group at C.K. Cooper. “We don’t have enough gas coming online in the next two years to meet the demand.”
C.K. Cooper is a boutique investment bank that specializes in small exploration and production companies. The firm, founded in 1981, offers research, trading, mergers and acquisitions advice, valuations and fairness opinions.
All 12 of C.K. Cooper’s workers are in Irvine. While most oil and gas investors are based in Houston, Sadleir jokes “there’s no surfing in Houston.”
Paladin Capital Partners II is set to close in December, Sadleir said.
Sadleir joined C.K. Cooper in June. Before that, he was a partner at Laguna Beach-based Tech Coast Investment Consortium. He also was a partner at San Francisco-based Trinity Capital Partners and Costa Mesa-based Capital Management International.
