Locke Lord announced Monday that Jon Daly has joined its Houston office as a partner in the corporate and transactional practice group. Daly previously was at Sidley Austin.
Daly was part of a five-member partner group joining Sidley in 2017 from Andrews Kurth, including David Buck, Angela Richards, George Vlahakos and Bill Cooper. At the time, they were believed to have a market-leading master limited partnership-focused capital markets practice.
They all remain at the firm except for Cooper, who left last year to be as deputy general counsel at electric vehicle charging network Volta, which was bought by Shell in March for $169 million (Shearman & Sterling advised Volta while Norton Rose Fulbright assisted Shell).
Daly focuses his practice on corporate and securities law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and the representation of issuers and investment banks in all forms of capital-raising transactions, including initial public offerings and public and private equity and debt offerings. He also advises companies, management teams and private equity funds in connection with private equity investments and M&A transactions.
In addition, Daly advises public companies on SEC reporting, corporate governance and compliance with the federal securities laws and boards of directors, conflicts committees and financial advisers on M&A transactions.
Locke Lord said Daly has particular experience with master limited partnerships and clients in the energy industry, including oil and gas exploration and production, midstream, oilfield service and power generation companies, and with special purpose acquisition companies, including IPOs, anchor investments and de-SPAC transactions.
So far this year, Daly has advised Intrepid Partners, Blue Ocean Acquisition Corp. and Sunoco on M&A and Western Midstream Partners and JP Morgan on capital markets deals. Some of his other past clients include Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, Energy Transfer, United Airlines, Luby’s, Fortune Brands, Enterprise Products Partners, RBC Capital Markets and Citigroup.
Daly said in a statement that Locke Lord has one of the premier energy transactional groups in the U.S. and provides an ideal platform for his practice. “I am excited to capitalize on the firm’s established presence in Texas and deep experience in the energy industry as well as its unique commitment to a highly collaborative approach to serving clients,” he said.
Joe Perillo, co-chair of Locke Lord’s corporate and transactional department and a partner in the firm’s Houston office, said that Daly’s reputation across Texas and his experience advising issuers and investment banks in capital-raising transactions and public and private equity-backed companies in M&A across the energy sector will be integral to its team.
“He’s an entrepreneurial lawyer with an impressive track record having advised on multiple high-stakes and high-value transactions,” Perillo said.
Locke Lord Houston office managing partner Laura Edrington said Daly will work closely with the firm’s tax and regulatory lawyers and his robust knowledge of deal structures “will be a strong component of the comprehensive solutions we offer clients as we continue to help them navigate current and future energy projects.”