Energy Wrap: Private Equity Firms Power Up –

Greenwich, Conn.-based First Reserve Corp. and New York-based Odyssey Investment Partners recently kicked off large market buyouts for 2001with the agreement to purchase Dresser Equipment Group from Halliburton Co. for $1.55 billion.

Dresser Equipment, a manufacturer of equipment for the energy, petrochemical and power industries, is one of many energy companies that are adding up to a growing interest in investing private equity into the energy sector. Halliburton Co. is divesting the business to focus on its core oil-service provider business. The deal will be financed with equity from First Reserve’s eighth and ninth energy-focused private equity funds, the Odyssey Investment Partners Fund LP and with senior debt from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and Credit Suisse First Boston.

Within an industry that is undergoing deregulation and consolidation and one that has excellent cash flow characteristics, energy companies are increasingly getting picked up on private equity firms’ radar screens.

According to our