News
Ankura Strengthens Energy Expertise
May 3, 2021
John Shepherd and Michele Martin Join Ankura as Senior Managing Directors
NEW YORK – May 3, 2021 – Ankura Consulting Group, LLC (“Ankura”), a global provider of a broad range of consulting services, announced today that John Shepherd and Michele Martin have joined Ankura as Senior Managing Directors in its Turnaround and Restructuring (T&R) group. These new additions to our team demonstrate Ankura’s continued investment in its energy expertise, consultant talent, and advisory services.
“Ankura is extremely pleased to welcome Michele and John to our team,” said Scott Pinsonnault, Senior Managing Director. “As we continue to bolster our energy offerings, we look forward to the valuable expertise and perspective John and Michele bring to our firm and to our clients. Michele is well-known in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for her investment and operational experience across the oil and gas value chain, and John’s expertise in the oil & gas sector is well known in the Houston and south-central U.S. markets. Their powerful combination of talent and industry experience deepens our expertise and strengthens our suite of offerings for our energy clients.”
Mr. Shepherd has more than 27 years of experience in energy private equity, corporate finance, strategy, corporate development and mergers and acquisitions, and he brings a unique perspective and invaluable insights to each client engagement, having historically served in a variety of critical roles on transactions. Mr. Shepherd spent most of his career at Morgan Stanley as an energy investment banker and then at GE Energy Financial Services as a principal investor in energy infrastructure assets. Prior to joining Ankura, he co-founded Integris Energy Partners and Strata Energy Investments and spent time in industry as Senior Vice President of Infrastructure at Select Energy Services, leading that firm’s water infrastructure strategy, implementation and business development. He has held senior positions and served on the boards of directors for numerous energy companies. His vast network and experiences have spanned the full spectrum of energy including upstream, midstream, oilfield services, and power.
“I am excited to be an integral part of Ankura’s continued growth and success, especially its expansion in serving energy clients,” said Mr. Shepherd. “Having observed Ankura in the market, I’ve always been impressed by Ankura’s highly regarded professionals and reputation for consistently high-quality counsel and work. I look forward to joining forces with my new colleagues to continuously enhance our services for our clients and further differentiate us from our competitors.”
Ms. Martin has over 20 years of consulting, investing, portfolio management and business development experience across the energy industry. Previously, she was the Business Development Leader for Auburn Energy, helping to grow that business from a startup to a $13 million revenue company providing oil and gas contract operations and performance improvement advisory services. She began her career with General Electric, where she was responsible for the underwriting and closing of over $1.4 billion in oil and gas equity and debt investments and held positions in all phases of the investment lifecycle.
“I’m delighted to be joining Ankura as it enters its next phase of growth and excited to help expand the firm’s services across the energy value chain,” said Ms. Martin. “I look forward to working with our team to address our clients’ issues by capitalizing on our broad range of technical and financial skills as well as Ankura’s collaborative culture.”
Ms. Martin will work out of the firm’s Dallas location, while Mr. Shepherd will be based in Ankura’s Houston office.
