Professionals

Matt Lea is an associate in the energy section of Porter Hedges. His practice focuses on energy-related transactions such as energy finance, acquisitions and divestitures. Mr. Lea represents lenders and borrowers in a wide variety of conventional and mezzanine energy financing and related secured transactions, including reserve-based lending and revolving and term credit facilities.

Mr. Lea also has experience with other types of upstream oil and gas transactions and matters, including preparation and negotiation of oil and gas leases, seismic permits, operating agreements, participation agreements, asset acquisition agreements, easement agreements and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management qualifications and operating right and record tile assignments.

Mr. Lea was editor-in-chief of the South Texas Law Review.

• Representation of a commercial bank, as administrative agent, in a $125,000,000 syndicated reserve-based senior first lien secured credit facility collateralized with certain oil and gas assets in the State of Texas.
• Representation of a commercial bank, as administrative agent, in a $100,000,000 syndicated senior first lien secured credit facility collateralized with certain pipeline and other midstream assets located in the States of Texas and Louisiana.
• Representation of a mezzanine lender in a $75,000,000 advancing term credit facility collateralized with certain oil and gas assets located in the State of Texas, in which the lender acquired an overriding royalty interest in the borrower’s oil and gas assets.
• Representation of a mezzanine lender in a $40,000,000 advancing term credit facility collateralized with certain coal-bed methane properties located in the States of Kansas and Pennsylvania, in which the lenders acquired fee mineral interests and net profits overriding royalty interests in the coal bed methane assets.
• Representation of a foreign mezzanine lender in a $200,000,000 senior term loan credit facility collateralized with certain oil and gas assets located in the State of Texas, in which the lender acquired a net profits overriding royalty interest in the borrower’s oil and gas assets located in the State of Texas.
• Representation of a publicly-traded oil and gas exploration and production company in a $300,000,000 syndicated senior first lien secured revolving credit facility and a $350,000,000 syndicated second lien term loan to finance the company’s acquisition and development of certain oil and gas assets located in and offshore the States of Texas and Louisiana.
• Representation of commercial and mezzanine lenders in the negotiation of intercreditor agreements involving first and second lien lenders and hedges counterparties.
• Representation of commercial and mezzanine lenders in various workout and credit settlement transactions, including the foreclosure on and transfer of secured oil and gas assets located in the States of Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and Colorado.

• State Bar of Texas, Member
• Houston Bar Association, Member of Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Section
• American Bar Association, Member
• Houston Young Lawyers Association, Member