Rice Brothers Act II – $200M Marcellus/Utica Investment Firm

Good news! The four Rice brothers, all of whom formerly worked in the family business, Rice Energy, have launched a new venture. You will recall last November EQT consummated a deal to buy and merge in Rice Energy, paying $8.2 billion to do so (see Out with the Old: Rice Energy Sign Comes Down Day of EQT Merger). Not all of that money went into the pockets of Dan, Toby, Derek and Ryan Rice--but you can be sure a good chunk of it did. We've been wondering where the Rice boys would land since they have a non-compete clause with EQT. Would they leave the Pittsburgh region and restart somewhere else? Fortunately, no! The four boys plus a fifth partner, a former VP at Rice, have pooled their money and expertise and have just launched Rice Investment Group (RIG), a (so far) $200 million "multi-strategy fund investing in all verticals of the oil and gas sector with a focus on partnering where our operational, technical, and strategic experience add value." We love everything about the Rice boys. They're young, irreverent, know how to have a good time, and smart. They come from good stock. Their dad, Dan Rice III, was once the most successful mutual fund manager in the United States, for over a decade, until the company he worked for (BlackRock) booted him for their own bungling and lack of communication with investors (see BlackRock’s Screw-up with Dan Rice & Rice Energy). The boys learned from the best and now they've launched an investment firm of their own. When you look at their website homepage, it is classic Rice boys--an animated video of an 800-pound gorilla on the homepage, signalling their intention to be THE big player in funding Marcellus/Utica ventures...

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