Energy Exec Set Course for Area
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Author: Steve Raabe
Released 4 October 2004
DENVER POST, 6 September 2004
Where most Colorado energy executives are whipsawed by the wild swings of drilling for oil and gas, Cortlandt Dietler has amassed a fortune in the less volatile business of moving it from point A to point B.
Dietler, a serial entrepreneur who has created or purchased more than 30 companies, may be on the verge of one of his biggest deals yet: the sale of Denver-based petroleum transportation company TransMontaigne Inc.
If the transaction happens, it would be a big payday for a man who has enjoyed several in his career.
Dietler, at age 82 still active as chairman of TransMontaigne, holds 2.07 million shares of the firm, worth more than $14 million based on the share price of $6.77.
He is viewed in petroleum circles as a near-legendary figure who helped build Denver's reputation as a major corporate energy center.
"He's been one of my real heroes in this town in terms of his business leadership and in building a series of successful companies," said Tom Petrie of energy investment-banking firm Petrie Parkman & Co., which has worked on several of Dietler's transactions.
TransMontaigne said in July that it would explore "strategic alternatives," often an industry euphemism for finding a buyer.
The firm specializes in the storage and transportation of petroleum products such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. It moves the products via pipelines from refineries to wholesalers and retailers, primarily in the southern and southeastern United States.
The business generates relatively low profit margins, but huge revenues.
TransMontaigne's 2003 sales of $8.3 billion placed it as one of only eight Colorado companies on the Fortune 500 list of U.S. corporations ranked by revenue.
Five companies have expressed serious interest in TransMontaigne, and one of them, Valero Energy of San Antonio, is considered a front-runner to acquire the Denver firm.
But TransMontaigne officials aren't saying anything, yet. If the company is a reflection of the man behind it, then blabbing about this transaction would be a transgression.
Dietler is intensely private and almost never talks to the media.
When a Colorado nonprofit agency once honored him for his contributions, he told a society columnist covering the event that she should write the item without mentioning his name.
Dietler's assistant at TransMontaigne said he could not be interviewed for this article because his travel schedule was too heavy.
In keeping with his low public profile, Dietler hasn't had any major problems with environmentalists, who typically keep a close eye on oil companies.
Several environmental groups contacted by The Denver Post, including the Sierra Club and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, were not familiar with Dietler or TransMontaigne.
Friends and business associates describe Dietler as a blunt speaker, smart, a workaholic, loyal, and with a dry sense of humor that can surface unpredictably in boardrooms or at cocktail parties.
"He has keen powers of observation and sound judgment," said Denverite Nancy Petry, who has known Dietler since the 1950s and now serves with him on the board of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo. "Cort always says it like it is. He's a master of plain speaking, and he doesn't waste time with trivia."
Born in Denver in 1921, Dietler attended Culver Military Academy in Culver, Ind., then served in North Africa and Europe during World War II with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
He graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1947 and went to work for the Trans- Arabian Pipeline Co. in Beirut.
His first taste of petroleum- company ownership came in 1950 with an investment in the Williams-Copeland Drilling Co. in Tulsa.
That launched a series of acquisitions and business start- ups, including Western Crude Oil Inc. and Associated Natural Gas Corp., a firm that through a series of mergers became part of Duke Energy Corp., one of the nation's largest natural gas and utility companies.
Dietler created TransMontaigne in 1995, then took the company public in 1996 in a merger with Sheffield Exploration.
But not all of Dietler's investments have succeeded. In 1995, a Denver brokerage firm that Dietler and a handful of wealthy Denverites had funded with $3 million went out of business, according to Denver District Court records.
Lewis de Rozario & Co. collapsed amid accusations from the investor group that its former chief executive, Robert W. Lewis, embezzled more than $400,000.
Lewis sued the investors, claiming they defrauded him, but the case was dismissed. The National Association of Securities Dealers later ruled against Lewis.
Dietler is generous with his time and money, serving on the boards of numerous nonprofit groups and contributing heavily to Republican candidates and conservative causes.
Among his political contributions:
Helped underwrite a $10 million media campaign for an unsuccessful effort in 1998 to replace federal income and payroll taxes with a 23 percent national sales tax.
Contributed $100,000 in 1998 for a proposed Colorado amendment, also unsuccessful, to give tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools.
From 1992 through 2002, made a total of $146,150 in contributions to state Republican candidates, the Colorado Republican Committee and Republican-supported ballot proposals, according to state campaign donation records.
Dietler has served on the boards of the Denver Art Museum, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, National Western Stock Show, El Pomar Foundation, Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation.
"He has a remarkable set of achievements," said June Harper of Denver, whose late husband, Jene, was a fellow oilman. "He's a very private person, but I think he likes the recognition for what he's done."