Brad Thielemann

Brad A. Thielemann is a Partner at EnCap Investments L.P., the Houston-based private equity firm founded in 1988 that describes itself as the energy industry's leading provider of growth capital to the independent sector. Thielemann has spent the bulk of his career at EnCap, first as an Associate from 2000 to 2003, then rejoining the firm as a senior investment professional in September 2006 and rising to Partner. Between his two stints at EnCap he worked in the Investor Relations and Strategic Planning groups at Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. Earlier in his career he was a Treasury Analyst at Dynegy.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from Duke University (Fuqua School of Business) and a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.

As a Partner on EnCap's upstream team, Thielemann sources, structures, and oversees investments in independent oil & gas companies and sits on the boards of several EnCap portfolio companies. Notably, he has served as an independent director of Earthstone Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ESTE) since December 2014, and is a board member of Grenadier Energy Partners III. He is active in the Houston energy community as a member of the Houston Producers' Forum and the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA).

EnCap has invested roughly $28 billion across more than 240 upstream companies through 18 funds, with more than 200 realized exits — the platform within which Thielemann operates and the source of his deal-making mandate.

• Backs management teams first. EnCap's model is to partner with proven, entrepreneurial oil & gas executives and provide growth equity to build companies — a large share of any given fund goes to teams the firm has successfully backed before (in Fund XII, 10 of the first 12 portfolio companies were run by returning teams).
• Stage: Growth capital and company formation/expansion — not venture or seed. Capital funds a company's acquisition, drilling, and development program rather than an early product.
• Sector: Almost exclusively upstream oil & gas exploration and production; EnCap also runs midstream and energy-transition strategies through affiliated platforms.
• What makes them say yes: Quality and track record of the management team, economically attractive assets/basins, and disciplined return potential "over multiple industry and hydrocarbon price cycles with limited losses."
• EnCap positions itself as "an innovative, value-added source of growth equity capital to the independent sector," and has stated the upstream landscape "remains compelling" for disciplined investors focused on "the most economically attractive opportunities."