- Fired co-founder Charif Souki plans to raise $100 million
- Tellurian is exploring options, sale with other investors
Charif Souki said he plans to raise $100 million from investors to buy a stake in Tellurian Inc., the US natural gas development firm he co-founded and which fired him in December.
“Various members of my family are already significant shareholders of Tellurian and we are definitely planning to be larger shareholders,” Souki said Tuesday in an interview.
The fundraising attempt represents a last-ditch effort by the twice-ousted executive to regain a foothold at Tellurian after the company hired Lazard Inc. to explore options including a potential sale. Tellurian’s proposed Driftwood LNG project in Louisiana, which is fully permitted, has not reached a final investment decision since the company’s founding in 2016. It would require billions of dollars of funding to be constructed.
“Charif Souki is a part of Tellurian’s past, not our future,” company spokesperson Jason French said via email. “Tellurian has been under new leadership for over six months. In that time, we have sold our upstream assets, improved the balance sheet, and refocused the company on developing the Driftwood LNG facility,” he said.
Once one of the highest paid CEOs in America, Souki took an $8 million payout last December after he was squeezed out from Tellurian, which he co-founded in 2016 after being terminated from LNG producer Cheniere Energy Inc. in 2015.
Souki still faces creditors seeking to be repaid $100 million from his personal bankruptcy proceedings. He declined to comment on the bankruptcy or which investors he’s approaching. His son Tarek Souki remains on Tellurian’s executive team.
Over the past year, Tellurian, which cast doubt on its ability to continue late last year, jettisoned Souki and former Chief Executive Officer Octavio Simoes, and then sold its upstream Haynesville gas assets to Aethon Energy Management LLC.
Boutique investment bank Petrie Partners confirmed to Bloomberg that Souki hired them to serve as an financial advisor in order to raise funds for a potential Tellurian investment.
— With assistance from Jonathan Randles and Matthew Monks
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