Pilko & Associates | Eric Dietert

"Bringing sound business sense to
complex transactions"

Eric Dietert

Position: Executive Vice President, Transactions
Office: Houston, TX
Email: eric@pilko.com
Phone: 713-357-0929
Fax: 713-357-0990

Biography
Eric Dietert cut his teeth in a ‘lean and mean’ environment, the Amerada Hess refinery on St. Croix, one of the world’s largest. There were only a few process engineers for the entire plant, and Eric was responsible for all utilities – power generators, boilers, steam system, amine systems, air systems, sour-water strippers, sulfur plants, and wastewater treatment. He was the only engineer who operated across the refinery, giving him early exposure to environmental issues. “It was trial by fire,” he says.

Eric liked the Caribbean lifestyle, but when Hurricane Hugo struck in 1989, he also realized the limitations – and moved to Northwestern University to get his MBA from Kellogg.

Upon graduation in 1992, Dietert returned to his home state of Texas to join Pilko & Associates. He started with the permits group and became one of our first consultants to head Cooperative Benchmarking projects. This led to the audit and transaction work that Eric loves.

“This is one of the unique things about Pilko & Associates that I’ve really enjoyed –” Eric says, “We have a technical basis for our environmental health and safety work, but what we bring to the table is the translation of complex technical issues into business language.” Over the past eight years, Eric has managed some of the largest transaction projects Pilko has done.

When not on the job, Eric enjoys running, sailing (with anyone who has a boat), collegiate athletics, and spending time with his children, Blake and Max.

Experience

Eric’s experience with Pilko centers on the environmental aspects of large transactions in utilities, refining, chemicals, and the oil and gas industries. He has lead efforts involving sealed bid auctions, privatizations, joint venture formation, asset and stock sales, asset acquisition and refinancing.

Pilko Projects

Sasol acquisition of Condea Vista: Led a complex project so successful that 18 months after closing, Sasol documented it as an example of best practices. The project included:
- Remote Sensing six months before the transaction to position Sasol as the preferred bidder – a significant accomplishment for a South African company;
- Due diligence for significant environmental concerns;
- Negotiating strategies and assistance that helped keep Sasol ahead of competitive bidders and secure a favorable contract; and
- Claims management assistance after closing, which led to recovery of significant costs incurred due to environmental issues.
Henkel divestiture of Cognis: Assisted seller by developing the environmental contract provisions of the purchase and sale agreement. Worked with Henkel’s team during negotiations to assess alternatives and determine the best negotiating strategy, which led to a successful negotiation and timely closing.
Shell acquisition of Texaco’s interests in Equilon and Motiva joint ventures: Led the due diligence effort, which covered all refineries, terminals and pipelines, plus a sampling of retail locations. Identified the key issues and advised Shell how to position and negotiate environmental concerns. The interesting aspect of this effort was Shell’s change in position from sharing liabilities for these assets with Texaco; it was particularly important to assess Texaco’s heritage refineries. The outcome for Shell was a very favorable negotiation.
El Paso: Helped El Paso with the sale of their Eagle Point and Aruba refineries, two sizeable and notable transactions.
Confidential remote sensing: Undertook effort for an integrated international energy company to assess seven potential acquisition targets for environmental performance, without the targets becoming aware of the project. Provided in-depth information that allowed the client to winnow prospects to two, then led the effort to characterize these companies further, also without their knowledge. Based on information developed by Eric and the Pilko team, the client decided not to go forward with the transaction because of potential environmental liabilities. This remote sensing work saved the client substantial time and money that might have been wasted in fruitless negotiations and due diligence.
Chevron Phillips Chemical Joint Venture: Led the Pilko team that hired by both Chevron and Phillips to conduct due diligence. In this work, Pilko acted as the independent third-party arbiter of value, liability and cost, saving both companies from the “dueling consultants syndrome” and expense that would have been incurred had each hired its own consultant.
Utility divestiture transactions: Managed environmental aspects of the divestiture of generating assets for NY State Electric & Gas (3000 MW, 12 generating stations) and for Montana Power (4000 MW, two generating stations, nine hydroelectric generating installations). This effort included conducting due diligence from the seller’s perspective and making presentations to potential buyers about environmental conditions. The team’s work was instrumental in the success of these deregulation divestitures.
Triana Energy and Morgan Stanley: Led team that helped these companies acquire Columbia Natural Resources, an O&G company in the Appalachian Basin. The Triana CEO singled out Pilko for “high praise” in the conduct of this work.

Publications

Remote Sensing: a Bit of Clairvoyance, Pilko Grey Paper, December 2002.
Due Diligence for Utility Transactions, Pilko Grey Paper, November 1998.

Education and Certifications

BS in chemical engineering, 1987, from the University of Texas at Austin.
MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, 1992.