Panther Energy Company III Receives $375 Million Equity Commitment

TULSA, Okla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Panther Energy Company III, LLC (“Panther III” or the “Company”) is
pleased to announce that it has received a $375 million equity
commitment from Kayne Anderson Energy Fund VIII, LP (“Kayne Anderson”),
co-investors and Panther III’s management team.

Panther III is a private exploration and production company formed to
pursue development drilling opportunities in oil-weighted basins across
North America. The Panther III management team is led by Berry
Mullennix, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Roy Grossman,
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Other key members
include Jeff Nevins, Chief Financial Officer, Jim Stone, VP of Business
Development, Paul Richardson, VP of Geology, Bill Diggs, VP Reservoir
Engineering, Phil Schenewerk, Petrophysicist, Joshua Cornell, Land
Manager and Robert Eubank, Marketing Manager. Prior to forming Panther
III, Mr. Mullennix and Mr. Grossman led Panther Energy Company II, LLC,
a Kayne Anderson Energy Fund VI portfolio company, which pursued a
similar business strategy and successfully sold its Delaware Basin
assets earlier this year.

Mr. Mullennix commented, “Panther III will build on the knowledge and
skill gained through several previous divestitures and is prepared to
look at any and all acquisitions or joint ventures.”

“The Panther III management team has a highly successful track record of
creating value in the oil and gas space. The team has demonstrated their
ability to assemble and prudently develop E&P assets at an elite level.
We are excited to be partnering for a third time with this accomplished
repeat team as one of our initial investments out of Kayne Anderson
Energy Fund VIII,” said Chuck Yates, Managing Partner at Kayne Anderson
Energy Funds.

ABOUT PANTHER III

Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Panther III will pursue opportunities
to lease acreage positions with significant resource potential, as well
as acquisitions of large property sets with scalable exploitation and
development upside. The Company will consider opportunities throughout
select North American basins with an initial focus on the Permian &
Mid-Continent regions. For more information, please visit www.pantherenergy.com
or call us at 918-551-7100.

ABOUT KAYNE ANDERSON

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., founded in 1984, is an
independent alternative investment management firm focused on niche
investing in upstream oil and gas companies, energy infrastructure,
specialized real estate, middle market credit and growth private equity.
Kayne’s investment philosophy is to pursue niches, with an emphasis on
cash flow. We believe our knowledge and sourcing capabilities enable us
to deliver above average, risk-adjusted investment returns. Kayne
manages $24.5 billion in assets (as of 11/30/2017) for institutional
investors, family offices, high net worth and retail clients and employs
over 300 professionals in eight offices across the United States.

Through Kayne Anderson Energy Funds (“KAEF”), the firm has raised over
$6.3 billion of committed capital dedicated to energy private equity
investments in primarily upstream and midstream oil and gas companies.
Currently, KAEF has approximately 25 active portfolio companies focused
on upstream and midstream oil and gas assets across North America.

The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Houston, New
York City, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta and Boca Raton. For more
information, please visit www.kaynecapital.com.

Contacts

Panther Energy Company III, LLC
Berry Mullennix, 918-583-1396
[email protected]
or
Kayne
Anderson Energy Funds
Chuck Yates, 713-493-2000
[email protected]