Mission Statement

To provide investors the opportunity to participate in the acquisition of high-quality, long-life producing oil and natural gas interests, real estate and venture capital, while excelling in the administration of the investment portfolio and maintaining the highest standards of ethics and integrity in our business activities.

Company Overview

Founded in 1985 by James A. Gibbs, Five States is a private equity investment group based in Dallas, Texas.  The Company is a classic value investor, focusing on longer term, income generating opportunities in three core sectors:  energy, real estate and venture capital.

Five States’ roots are in the acquisition and financing of conventional oil and gas resources throughout Texas and its contiguous states.  In late 2007, Five States sold more than $200 million of its oil and gas assets under management.  Today, Five States Energy Company, LLC and its affiliate Five States Energy Capital, LLC manage more than $250 million in capital invested throughout Texas, the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions.

The principals of the company began investing in real estate in the early 1990s with the decline in the Texas real estate market.  Initially, these investments were made independently rather than through a fund.  Most of these holdings were liquidated in the late 1990s and the early part of the last decade as real estate values became inflated.  In 2008, the Company, through a newly formed affiliate Five States Realty Capital, LLC, re-entered the sector closing a $13 million strategic lending fund.  In 2009, Realty Capital closed a $50 million equity fund focused on multi-family housing.

Throughout Five States’ history, its principals have been active investors in and sponsors of private equity and venture capital opportunities.  Five States management believes in being an active participant in each of its venture holdings, bringing core subject matter and general management expertise while building world class, empowered management teams.  Typically, Five States is the initial investor in a project and remains the lead investor throughout the project life, bringing in other institutional investors when the project is sufficiently mature.  Five States management has worked with technical groups to develop and commercialize a wide range of technologies including power storage, wireless communications, mobile applications and services, and personalization technology for connected devices.  In 2004, Five States management began researching a variety of alternative energy concepts, with a particular interest in biofuels and geothermal energy.  Five States made a commitment to its first biofuels investment in June 2010.

Similar to its real estate experience, Five States has historically invested in venture opportunities on a project basis rather than through a blind-pool fund.  In January 2010, Five States formed its affiliate Five States Ventures, LLC, which assumed responsibility for the current $100 million venture portfolio.  Current investments include:  ZPower, LLC, Sidebar, Inc., and Heliotronic Energy Systems, LLC.