Since spring, businesses controlled by the Wilks brothers have hunted for deals among fracking firms going through bankruptcy and taken or increased stakes in at least six other companies, corporate filings show. The Republican senator helped convince the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve to change the rules for pandemic loans to ensure oil and gas firms could participate. The Wilks brothers are longtime financial backers of Mr. Cruz. Spokespeople for the brothers’ main investment firm, Wilks Brothers LLC, and ProFrac didn’t provide comment for this article. Days later, Wilks Brothers offered a $15 million bankruptcy loan to take over Carbo Ceramics Inc., a struggling fracking-industry supplier.

Source: Mint December 28, 2020 19:18 UTC