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The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

  • Appellate
  • Bankruptcy
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Corp. Deal Tracker/M&A
  • GCs/Corp. Legal Depts.
  • Firm Management
  • White-Collar/Regulatory
  • Pro Bono/Public Service/D&I

CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 12 Law firms, 116 Texas Lawyers, $10.18B

March 19, 2019 Claire Poole

Dealmaking has been slow so far this year and at least one banker thinks activity needs to pick up soon to avoid a big drop in 2019.

Mark Shafir, global co-head of M&A at Citi, said at Tulane University’s Corporate Law Institute conference in New Orleans last week that he’s expecting a 10 percent drop in deal volume this year, 20 percent if certain risk factors worsen. That compares with a 20 percent rise last year to more than $4 trillion, the third best year on record, he said.

“Clients are still interested in transacting, but the numbers are disconcerting,” he said, according to an article in Bloomberg. “We need the business to accelerate in the second half.”

Shafir blamed the U.S. Treasury yield curve, which showed evidence of inverting for the first time in more than a decade. Such an inversion historically dampens M&A activity for the next nine to 13 months.

Analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt think M&A conditions might improve in the oil and gas industry, with valuations continuing to point to a logical path for industry consolidation.

They said with general and administrative expenses and capital development synergies driving additional improvements to free cash flow yields and multiple compression, the case continues to grow for a very active M&A environment in 2019.

“Ultimately, we think this could be a combination of low-premium SMID [small and medium] cap equity mergers, larger cap consolidation of smaller cap peers and eventually the majors stepping in to take out Permian-levered equities with resource and production scale,” they said.

Sarp Ozkan, director of energy analysis at Drillinginfo Market Intelligence, agrees, saying that the industry could continue to see consolidation “that we wouldn’t otherwise see” as companies focus on shareholder returns rather than growth.

Haynes and Boone’s twice-a-year survey on borrowing base redeterminations – which can affect dealmaking – provided some optimism, with most respondents expecting no change in credit facilities or only a small increase or decrease if there is a change.

Haynes and Boone partner Kraig Grahmann said in an interview with The Texas Lawbook that he was surprised by the results. 

“The last quarter of 2018 was not a great quarter for oil and gas companies, with a lot of commodity price volatility, M&A transactions that got canceled and a lot of concern flowing into January,” he said. “So I was expecting that people would be more negative about borrowing bases.”

Grahmann said the sentiment reminded him of 2015, when the industry had its first redetermination after the oil drop. 

“Everyone expected it to decline significantly, but the banks didn’t have a knee jerk reaction to it, which seems to be the case here,” he said. “That said, there’s been pretty decent price recovery and things have settled down a bit.”

Among the survey’s other findings: That borrowers significantly hedged their production by locking in prices, which helped with stability of capital through reserve-based loans; and that producers don’t expect that they’ll be able to get equity from the capital markets this year.

“Most companies are being realistic,” he said. “The capital markets don’t want to put money into them right now; they want to see them develop the resources they’ve been acquiring and build a solid business model.”

Grahmann said his firm’s clients have shown a lot of interest in drilling joint ventures, or drillcos, as an alternative way to fund their growth. “People want to figure out how to develop their properties without raising a lot of cash,” he said.

If conditions continue on the path they’re on now, with commodity prices mostly stable and OPEC support for keeping production quotas at their current levels, Grahmann thinks the next survey will be modestly positive as well. 

“There has been a lot of talk about major transactions coming, including small and medium-sized companies,” he said. “Once a few of those get going, that could start building a lot of momentum.”

In Texas this past week, deal flow picked up significantly. Texas lawyers worked on 14 transactions valued at $10.18 billion versus only 9 deals valued at $1.8 billion the previous week. 

There were 116 Texas lawyers and 12 firms involved. Kirkland & Ellis partner Kevin Crews in Dallas was particularly busy, having worked on three transactions announced last week. Latham & Watkins partner John Greer in Houston and Thompson & Knight partner Holt Foster in Dallas worked on two.

Weekly Corporate Deal Tracker Roundup Stats

A compilation of weekly stats from The Lawbook's CDT Weekly Roundup
(Deal Values in Millions)

Week Ending
Deal CountAmountFirmsLawyersM&A CountM&A Value $MCapM Count
CapM Value $M
31-May-202519$23,3811116612$18,6657$4,717
24-May-202515$24,0331112113$23,6242$409
17-May-202516$21,7601214511$18,6155$3,145
10-May-202524$33,1751620619$30,7655$2,410
03-May-202511$4,249139011$2,226.52$2,022.5
26-Apr-202512$8,78791689$6,0113$2,776
19-Apr-202511$8,09771389$7,9852$112
12-Apr-202513$2,392815210$2,0653$327
05-Apr-202519$27,7621518816$25,4733$2,289
29-Mar-202521$8,1881025816$4,1255$4,064
22-Mar-202519$6,4851423115$4,1284$2,857
15-Mar-202513$13,7371315110$9,9324$3,805
8-Mar-20257$2,2345665$2242$2,100
1-Mar-202511$3,05087510$2,5501$500
24-Feb-2512$16,39771496$6,6356$9,862
17-Feb-2517$12,1361313410$9,4112$2,725
10-Feb-2514$7,15491799$4,9505$2,204
3-Feb-2516 $10,068720011$7,5535$2,515
25-Jan-2514$10,261101259$2,2075$8,054
18-Jan-2519$7,3821531612$2,3007$5,082
11-Jan-2521$33,5601618716$32,5215$1,039
4-Jan-259$6,8279809$6,82700
21-Dec-2411$2,79811928$2,2293$570
14-Dec-2415$5,3231218612$3,8123$1,511
07-Dec-2416$4,7661023111$2,32152,445
30-Nov-2410$10,29191034$8,2906$2.001
23-Nov-2415$4,5531515311$3,3794$1,174
16-Nov-2417$11,4881124513$10,1864$1,303
09-Nov-2414$2,1101213912$1,4102$700
02-Nov-2412 $52,788 1110711$52,7381$50
26-Oct-248$3,1608657$3,0651$75
19-Oct-2412$5,3041113611$4,5541$750
12-Oct-2417$8,4381215015$8,1162$322
05-Oct-2422$23,1811218915$19,9807$3,201
28-Sep-2411$2,35671447$534$2,303
21-Sep-2412$9,568101695$4,1017$5,467
14-Sep-2424$10,9881223516$7,1758$3,813
7-Sep-2412$20,4201616811$20,3071$112.9
31-Aug-2413$20,631913412$14,7751$5,856
24-Aug-2419$8,4522132516$7,1023$1,350
17-Aug-2425$49,1961630411$39,38614$9,810
10-Aug-2420$12,2641531216$9,7944$2,470
03-Aug-2426$16,4981633418$8,1378$8,361
27-Jul-2419$16,4422127115$13,8384$2,604
20-Jul-2415$16,0161418410$14,2325$1,784
13-Jul-2420$17,220 1426518$7,146 2$10,074
6-Jul-2411$3,941 11958$2,650 3$1,291
29-Jun-2414$6,296 152248$6,296 6$1,927
22-Jun-2412$5,679 81375$210 7$5,469
15-Jun-2413$9,895 1621410$5,280 3$4,615
8-Jun-2419$23,859 1323912$19,436 7$4,423
1-Jun-2412$34,510 111479$26,110 3$8,400
25-May-2413$9,684 1517110$4,434 3$5,250
18-May-2411$5,490 111738$3,129 3$2,361
11-May-2422$14,855 1422716$11,105 6$3,750
4-May-2413$3,139 98710$1,297 3$1,842
27-Apr-2410$6,684 62810$6,684 00
20-Apr-2419$15,989 111479$5,208 10$10,781
13-Apr-2413$8,952 97610$1,652 3$7,300
6-Apr-2423$26,616 1422214$13,501 8$13,116
30-Mar-2412$9,286 81368$4,299 4$4,987
23-Mar-2418$5,451 1726616$4,759 2$692
16-Mar-2421$11,437 1318614$9,316 6$2,070
9-Mar-2423$4,695 2121819$2,723 4$1,972
2-Mar-2420$9,108 1937214$4,558 6$4,550
24-Feb-2419$16,382 1224815$9,507 4$6,875
17-Feb-2416$29,932 1515712$29,216 4$716
10-Feb-2425$10,750 1719619$5,372 6$5,379
3-Feb-2412$8,416 181259$3,416 3$5,000
27-Jan-249$8,165 9878$7,815 1$800
20-Jan-2414$4,084 1210912$3,219 2$865
13-Jan-2417$33,588 1225612$26,765 5$6,823
6-Jan-248$7,915 8846$7,265 2$650
30-Dec-2317$14,599 129915$2,714 2$11,885
23-Dec-2323$4,182 1321916$1,813 7$2,370
16-Dec-2313$16,436 132807$15,150 5$1,286
9-Dec-2326$14,633.90 1724416$8,095 10$6,538.90
2-Dec-2313$6,720 95712$6,630 1$90
25-Nov-239$4,835 91316$1,785 3$3,050
18-Nov-2322$6,568.70 1718414$4,709.20 8$1,859.50
11-Nov-2315$9,825 1317912$6,581 3$3,244
4-Nov-2315$20,582.50 1419312$19,417.50 3$1,165
28-Oct-2318$68,419.10 1815215$66,646 3$1,773.10
21-Oct-2316$6,755.90 1616515$6,755.90 1$3
14-Oct-2314$67,851.20 131259$61,998.50 5$5,852.70
7-Oct-2317$6,595.50 1322816$5,995.50 1$600
30-Sep-2317$1,896.45 1318914$806.45 3$1,090
23-Sep-2323$6,432.70 1723016$1,402.80 7$5,029.90
16-Sep-2325$23,226.70 2335316$17,239 9$5,987.70
9-Sep-2312$6,369 81027$4,311 5$2,058
2-Sep-2314$2,522 69213$1,322 1$1,200
26-Aug-2317$12,160.25 1320215$6,573.25 2$5,587.00
19-Aug-2319$11,505 1321315$11,255 4$250
12-Aug-2319$9,698.80 131847$3,270 12$6,428.80
5-Aug-2313$5,201 1211812$5,051 1$150
29-Jul-2315$21,031.60 1319611$18,292.00 4$2,739.60
22-Jul-2318$3,992 1213013$2,808 5$1,184
15-Jul-2313$8,254.95 138113$8,254.95 00
8-Jul-2316$5,441.45 1217211$2,443 5$2,998.45
1-Jul-2316$6,872 1010512$5,474 4$1,398
24-Jun-2313$10,914 1620110$7,874 3$3,040
17-Jun-2317$5,880.70 1515115$4,705.70 2$1,175
10-Jun-2319$8,516.10 1311116$6,252.40 3$2,263.70
June 3 202312$6,104.42 121388$4,256.92 4$1,847.50
27-May-2317$12,200 106711$6,165 6$6,035
20-May-2311$22,458.10 81034$19,455 7$3,003
13-May-2312$7,034 101018$5,460 4$1,574
6-May-2320$3,297.60 1819617$2,985.60 3$312
29-Apr-2323$3,691.20 1813517$1,969.70 6$1,721.50
22-Apr-2316$5,570 1410414$4,750 2$1,000
15-Apr-2312$23,818.10 95910$21,618.10 2$2,200
8-Apr-2316$7,949 91739$5,472 7$3,477
1-Apr-2321$18,676.70 1217511$10,926.70 10$7,750
25-Mar-2315$8,779.50 101415$2,362 10$6,416.50
18-Mar-237$14,048.80 6695$13,345 2$703.80
11-Mar-2321$11,576 1616516$8,131 5$3,445
4-Mar-2320$9,668 1122816$8,209 4$1,459
25-Feb-2313$5,335 1313012$4,235 1$1,200
18-Feb-2314$5,743.70 131588$898.70 6$4,845
11-Feb-2316$12,088 1213712$9,965 4$2,123
4-Feb-2317$8,066 1514013$5,614 4$2,452
28-Jan-237$2,180 7755$1,692.75 2$488
21-Jan-2317$5,768 1617412$1,918 5$3,850
14-Jan-2311$2, 800101028$421 3$2,400
7-Jan-2318$8,296 1116714$6,461 3$1,835
31-Dec-2214$2,732 119912$2,092 2$640
17-Dec14$7,919 1311512$7,419 1$500
10-Dec-2214$10,093 128811$7,093 3$3,000
3-Dec-2226$12,800.90 1117220$4,141 6$8,659.90
26-Nov-228$2,266.70 853$76 5$2,190.70
19-Nov-2221$2,886 1521219$2,550 2$336
12-Nov-2213$15,093.70 9819$14,200 4$893.70
5-Nov-222519,337.201650922$8,267.20 3$11,070
29-Oct-2215$7,805.30 911614$7,180.30 1$625
22-Oct-2220$8,193.50 1325313$5,442 7$2,751.50
15-Oct-229$3,046.10 91397$2,588.30 2$457.80
8-Oct-2219$2,011.80 1211416$833.80 3$1,178
1-Oct-2223$5,532.90 1615618$4,952.30 5$580.60
24-Sep-2218$5,194 1421615$4,050 3$1,144
17-Sep-2221$8,352.30 1232015$4,759.60 6$3,592.70
10-Sep-2215$19,853.50 1012613$19,403.60 2$450
3-Sep-229$2,312 9629$2,312 00
27-Aug-2216$30,891.70 1013515$30,666.40 1227.7
20-Aug-2212$1,977 815299253$1,052
13-Aug-2218$8,004.70 1124211$2,844.70 7$5,160
6-Aug-2224$7,948.90 1224017$3,577 7$4,371.90
30-Jul-228$6,941 9787$6,839 1$102
23-Jul-2211$801 119210$801 10
16-Jul-2214$3,650 1012214$3,650 00
9-Jul-2210$3,557.70 7689$3,557.70 10
2-Jul-2218$8,609.40 1315215$2,754.40 3$5,855
25-Jun-2215$6,142 131469$2,017 6$4,125
18-Jun-2217$11,890.10 1422815$11,410 2479.7
11-Jun-2217$7,600 1212310$2,300 7$5,300
4-Jun-2212$2,937 101279$692 3$2,245
28-May-229$3,197.60 11869$3,197.60 00
21-May-2214$7,284.50 1218511$6,609 3$675.50
14-May-2211$306.60 98010$306.60 1$225
7-May-2216$10,451.75 1210812$1,827 4$8,624.75
30-Apr-2216$2,296.50 1615712$895.50 4$1,401
23-Apr-2210$2,241 11588$1,641 2$600
16-Apr-2211$6,643 71568$2,359 3$4,284
9-Apr-2217$4,429 1418411$1,690 6$2,739
2-Apr-2213$1,755 88410$1,145 3$610
26-Mar-2211$3,205 8656$200 5$3,005
19-Mar-2213$2,239.17 910613$2,239.17 00
12-Mar-2218$12,016 1123915$11,965 2$51.35
5-Mar-2217$6,786 1313713$5,161 4$1,625
26-Feb-2212$5,095 81499$4,437.50 3$658
19-Feb-2217$22,229 1717414$21,354 3$875
12-Feb-2212$2,344.70 10738$641.70 4$1,703
5-Feb-2211$2,503 89911$2,503 00
29-Jan-2211$3,872 1210112$3,872 00
22-Jan-2213$5,143.50 109912$4,842.50 1$301
15-Jan-2212$7,605 91559$6,480 3$1,025
8-Jan-2213$8,256.20 1110213$8,256.20 00
1-Jan-229$1,273.80 6509$1,273.80 00
25-Dec-2121$4,734.75 1117616$3,410 5$1,324.75
18-Dec-2126$7,325.20 1519318$3,640.20 8$3,685.20
11-Dec-2116$5,017 1010913$1,417 3$3,600
4-Dec-2114$2,310 8868$2,310 6$1,882.05
27-Nov-219$3.460.1101016$1,758 3$1,702.60
20-Nov-2120$22,792 1515712$18,864.50 8$3,928
13-Nov-2121$26,729 1217813$11,822 8$14,907
6-Nov-2112$8,303 1315710$6,682 3$1,621
30-Oct-2121$10,368 1521815$9,24.46$1,103.00
23-Oct-2121$18.783.11522211$12,314 10$6,468.60
16-Oct-2115$3,868 1111815$2,293 2$1,575
9-Oct-2120$8,610 1617516$7,795 4$815
2-Oct-2114$6,250 1113710$5,200 4$1,050
25-Sep-2111$11,460 9937$10,200 4$1,250
18-Sep-2111$16,603 8998$15,084 3$1,519
11-Sep-2117$10,653 1110313$8,503 4$2,150
4-Sep-2113$7,222 108911$6,715 2$507
28-Aug-2112$763 96311$663 1$100
21-Aug-2112$29,659 77911$29,579 1$80
14-Aug-2122$17,845 1119912$12,805 10$5,04
7-Aug-2117$13,670 1213915$11,766 2$1,904
31-Jul-2121$8,160 1113410$3,574 10$4,586
July 24,202121$6,367 1113915$3,712 6$2,655
17-Jul-2114$4,009 1112412$2,015 2$1,994
10-Jul-2116$3,997 1314311$1,597 4$2,4
3-Jul-2124$7,492 139416$3,769 8$3,722
26-Jun-2110$4,995 7858$3,847 2$1,148
19-Jun-2128$16,830 82289$1,861 19$14,968
12-Jun-2126$27,238 1520919$25,602 7$1,636
5-Jun-2115$15,539 1310013$14,709 2$600
29-May-2135$20,279 1114528$18,647$1,639
22-May-2124$53,208 1417417$51,047 7$2,161
15-May-2118$10,620 1322011$5,870 7$4,809
8-May-2117$10,400 1115615$8,386 2$2,500
1-May-2121$7,200 1611512$3,808 9$3,392
24-Apr-218$20,200 9318$20,200 00
17-Apr-2114$6,270 810211$40,180 3$2,260
10-Apr-2115$8,940 1312914$7,990 1$950
3-Apr-2118$19,513 1015112$16,923 6$2,590
27-Mar-2127$13,942 1524414$4,300 13$9,633.50
20-Mar-2111$2,046 41023$270 8$1,776
13-Mar-2115$3,270 91096$538 9$2,732
6-Mar-2124$13,617 1019613$10,395 11$3,222
27-Feb-2119$8,105 1213915$4,970 4$3,135
20-Feb-219$8,820 91538$8,520 1$300
13-Feb-2112$4,852.60 78172,7665$2,086.60
6-Feb-2118$9,752 1315314$5,222 4$4,530
30-Jan-2118$9,449 918215$8,753.80 3$695.30
23-Jan-2114$8,150 81186$4,000 8$4,150
16-Jan-2117$6,783 1313811$2,400 6$4,382.90
9-Jan-2122$6,829 1413518$3,139.30 4$3,690
2-Jan-217$1,466 7607$1,466 00
26-Dec-2018$15,900 1216316$5,300 1$600
19-Dec-2018$9,769 1411014$8,426 4$1,343
12-Dec-2010$7,200 91009$3,325 1$3,830
5-Dec-2015$4,261 91229$2,780 6$1,481
28-Nov-2019$7,758 1011013$4,003 6$3,755
14-Nov-2014$864.10 1415712$289.10 2$575
7-Nov-2013$6,332 91299$2,483.50 4$3,849
31-Oct-2010$3,995.80 81036$3,231.10 4$754.70
24-Oct-206$18,100 6585$17,709 1$350
17-Oct-208$351.90 5558$351.90 00
10-Oct-207$5,229 3504$735 3$4,494
3-Oct-2014$21,428 91739$17,535 5$3,893
26-Sep-2010$12,770 8935$10,300 5$2,470
19-Sep-2014$8,365 91016$1,020 8$7,345
12-Sep-206$4,406 8593$1,270 3$3,136
5-Sep-2011$5,191 81179$4,061 2$1,130
29-Aug-2011$2,531 9945$1,130 6$1,401
22-Aug-2018$6,574 121407$1,930 11$4,644
15-Aug-2013$4,991 10977$1,216 6$3,775
8-Aug-2012$32,092 111129$30,457 3$1,635
1-Aug-207$5,287 8765$3,687 2$1,600
25-Jul-209$18,751 6677$18,403 2$348
18-Jul-206$1,982.50 5504$1,407.50 2$575
11-Jul-2011$565.10 127510$65.10 1$500
4-Jul-2010$8,889 8989$8,788 1$100.30
27-Jun-208$6,874 10505$4,972.50 3$2,081.50
20-Jun-2012$4,444 91157$2,829 5$1,615
13-Jun-206$3,582 4372$350 4$3,232
6-Jun-2011$3,213.70 8657$470 4$2,743.70
30-May-208$7,335 7486$4,639 2$2,697
23-May-204$432.40 4343$432.40 10
16-May-206$310 6345$310 10
9-May-2018$5,630 1612414$3,180 4$2,450
2-May-201510,40010908$1,900 7$,8,500
25-Apr-208$3,400 9365$1,000 3$2,450
18-Apr-2019$9,500 14928$185.70 11$9,360
11-Apr-2012$6,000 9405$190 7$5,800
4-Apr-2014$8,200 116810$2,200 4$6,000
28-Mar-2016$6,500 139610$3,700 6$2,800
21-Mar-2011$11,910 7337$2,250 4$9,960
14-Mar-207809.86346684.81125
7-Mar-2016$2,500 157013$669 3$1,400
29-Feb-2013$15,260 1312811$11,760 2$3,500
22-Feb-2012$3,700 109210$2,560 2$1,130
15-Feb-2016$1,250 108412$35 4$1,222
8-Feb-2018$6,080 1412314$2,595 4$3,485
1-Feb-2021$20,900 1210114$17,860 7$3,060
25-Jan-2013$7,430 136212$6,430 1$1,000
18-Jan-2023$9,580 1512019$6,580 4$3,000
11-Jan-2021$14,200 1819916$1,020 5$13,200
4-Jan-2022$6,400 1111916$3,204 6$3,245
28-Dec-1922$7,150 1917518$6,800 4$327.40
14-Dec-1924$36,300 2316719$9,500 5$26,800
7-Dec-1911$10,400 11557$1,082 4$9,370
November 30. 201914$2,450 1212612$1,760 2$692.50
23-Nov-1916$1,995 104111$615 5$1,380
16-Nov-1915$3,820 1313511$2,500 4$1,271
9-Nov-1925$12,900 1718223$12,200 2$575
2-Nov-1910$2,470 126192,4503$22
26-Oct-1912$5,560 147011$3,860 1$1,700
19-Oct-198$6,600 81388$6,600 00
12-Oct-1919$4,300 145516$3,800 3$500
5-Oct-1918$14,500 1916615$11,100 3$3,400
28-Sep-1919$8,100 1813218$7,560 1$550
21-Sep-1914$6,300 166611$2,160 3$4,170
14-Sep-1915$23,800 125611$21,250 4$2,570
7-Sep-1917$3,500 159814$1,900 3$1,600
31-Aug-195$8,700 6505$8,700 00
24-Aug-1916$10,000 148215$4,250 1$5,750
16-Aug-1910$1,680 5527$650 3$950
9-Aug-1917$17,700 156814$3,900 3$13,800
2-Aug-1913$5,760 1210813$5,760 NANA
27-Jul-1911$7,300 13768$6,570 3$730
20-Jul-1913$11,800 1312511$5,300 2$6,500
13-Jul-1910$775 7468$542.50 2$233
6-Jul-197$2,500 9857$2,500 00
29-Jun-1923$8,290 1515417$2,300 6$5,970
22-Jun-1917$10,700 1013914$7,700 3$3,000
15-Jun-1911$13,500 1416011$13,500 NANA
8-Jun-1913$2,870 175511$1,570 2$1,300
1-Jun-1910$4,460 11608$4,140 2$315
25-May-1917$4,360 147914$3,700 3$612
18-May-1922$9,000 1715016$3,400 6$5,600
11-May-1918$19,800 1717715$18,300 3$1,500
4-May-1910$7,075 6328$6,900 2$175
27-Apr-1915$3,200 1411714$3,160 1$40
20-Apr-1913$13,500 10909$12,200 4$1,300
13-Apr-1916$38,900 149114$37,800 2$1,100
6-Apr-1912$6,870 119410$6,730 2$50
30-Mar-1915$6,470 128410$7,91.55$5,677
23-Mar-1918$6,450 149114$5,042 4$1,408
16-Mar-1914$10,180 1211511$8,800 3$1,300
9-Mar-199$1,800 6498$1,300 1$500
2-Mar-1920$3,033 1610714$1,817 6$1,262
23-Feb-1912$2,040 8699$614.60 3$1,430
16-Feb-1916$9,970 187716$9,970 00
9-Feb-1914$6,400 1011014$6,400 00
2-Feb-1918$6,740 159916$5,720 2$950
26-Jan-1913$2,770 116711$918.95 2$1,850
19-Jan-1915$3,819 167612$2,594 3$1,225
12-Jan-1918$7,283 149215$1,683 3$5,600
5-Jan-1910$529 125010$529 00
22-Dec-1817$2,570 138714$941 3$1,629
15-Dec-1810$2,860 8268$264 2$2,600
8-Dec-1815$1,819 166512$552 3$1,267
1-Dec-1812$7,500 10909$1,200 3$6,200
28-Nov-1815$4,500 1110714$4,000 1$500
19-Nov-1818$6,137 139813$2,142 5$3,995
14-Nov-1818$9,200 1315215$8,500 3$694
6-Nov-1816$17,300 1618314$16,361 2$950
29-Oct-1814$14,400 1812717$13,800 1$600
24-Oct-1813$6,140 1312611$5,122 2$1,018
17-Oct-1818$18,390 1512514$12,292 4$6,098
10-Oct-1829$3,149 1810420$1,647 9$819
2-Oct-1818$9,300 116714$7,300 4$2,000
25-Sep-1813$7,000 117510$6,000 3$995
18-Sep-189$3,570 7449$3,570 00
11-Sep-1813$5,900 1013213$5,900 00
7-Sep-1814$5,000 158611$4,000 3$1,000
29-Aug-1815$20,700 147913$4,700 2$16,000
20-Aug-1810$12,400 11538$11,380 3$1,057
14-Aug-1812$19,900 121329$18,889 3$1,011
7-Aug-1816$68,600 1110613$67,259 3$1,340
31-Jul-1815$15,100 159511$13,060 4$2,060
23-Jul-1813$2,130 156010$1,804 3$1,100
17-Jul-1814$5,370 17989$4,310 5$1,100
9-Jul-1816$11,200 157410$11,080 6$862
3-Jul-1813$7,000 78112$6,330 1$750
25-Jun-1815$8,800 13979$4,970 6$3,930
18-Jun-1813$14,200 14807$221 6$14,290
11-Jun-1812$6,300 8968$5,910 4$803
6-Jun-1813$14,500 10888$14,154 5$579
31-May-1811$4,890 10638$3,240 3$1,790
22-May-1815$20,400 11639$19,808 6$885
15-May-1815$4,700 1510610$3,900 5$643
9-May-1811$1,400 13889$1,300 2$560
1-May-188$14,250 7887$13,400 1$450
24-Apr-1812$5,300 66111$4,470 1$800
17-Apr-189$1,800 10447$2,330 2$1,434
11-Apr-1811$2,500 8326$1,690 5$809
3-Apr-1815$13,400 111219$12,020 6$1,090
28-Mar-1810$4,000 10927$3,870 3$215
19-Mar-1817$5,800 135110$590 7$5,165
12-Mar-1815$3,130 114311$2,360 4$788
6-Mar-1819$5,400 1311610$1,530 9$4,860
27-Feb-1820$6,600 136914$5,530 6$1,030
19-Feb-1815$5,500 1411110$3,990 6$1,980
12-Feb-1823$10,900 1715712$7,110 11$3,840
5-Feb-1816$8,600 131007$1,330 9$7,800
30-Jan-1811$12,600 11685$7,300 6$4,982
24-Jan-1819$9,400 151295$2,010 14$7,337
18-Jan-1810$6,280 8492$2,100 8$4,188
9-Jan-1812$16,500 12929$15,890 3$475
3-Jan-1810$2,500 9478$2,350 2$150
27-Dec-1715$9,000 151139$7,568 6$1,784
18-Dec-1715$13,800 161649$13,010 7$1,118
11-Dec-1714$9,700 1012612$2,940 4$8,500
4-Dec-176$1,800 6315$1,510 1$300
28-Nov-177$3,850 8764$3,260 3$285
16-Nov-1710$2,700 10486$1,840 4$856
8-Nov-1715$2,380 179110$1,860 5$516
1-Nov-1712$4,700 17949$3,400 4$1,300
23-Oct-1715$10,500 106710$9,780 4$1,530
18-Oct-176$2,000 373$225 3$1,820
10-Oct-1712$6,570 1009$3,880 3$3,360
2-Oct-178$3,100 11193$1,630 5$1,750
25-Sep-178$4,880 8795$2,660 5$2,070
18-Sep-179$4,770 3$300 6$4,470
12-Sep-1711$4,430 8$2,030 3$2,400
1-Sep-174$1,310 3$317 1$1,000
23-Aug-1711$13,640 98$11,840 3$1,800

M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions made up the bulk of the activity, with 11 deals valued at $8.8 billion. The capital markets managed to eke out three deals worth $1.3 billion, all of which were energy-related. Maybe conditions are getting better in Texas’ biggest sector.

M&A/PRIVATE EQUITY/VENTURE CAPITAL

Jones Day advises NVIDIA on $6.9B Mellanox acquisition

Jones Day said it advised NVIDIA on its purchase of Mellanox for $125 per share, giving the target an enterprise value of $6.9 billion.

Partner Robert J. Cardone in Dallas led the deal team with attorneys in the firm’s Silicon Valley and Irvine, Calif., offices. A Jones Day spokeswoman said there were other Texas lawyers on the team, but the firm only wanted to mention Cardone and the other two leads.

Latham & Watkins and Herzog Fox & Neeman assisted Mellanox, which used Credit Suisse and JP Morgan as its financial advisors. Goldman Sachs was NVIDIA’s financial advisor.

Mellanox has been on the auction block for about a year, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source.

The transaction has to clear regulators and Mellanox shareholders and is expected to close by the end of this year.

Mellanox is an Israel-based supplier of end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet interconnect solutions and services for servers and storage.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based NVIDIA said March 11 that the deal unites leaders in processing and interconnect for the high performance computing market and builds on their long history of collaboration and joint innovation. 

NVIDIA expects the transaction to create a company that serves 250 of the world’s top 500 supercomputers and will add to its non-GAAP gross margin and earnings per share as well as free cash flow immediately after close.

“We’re excited to unite NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform with Mellanox’s world-renowned accelerated networking platform under one roof to create next-generation datacenter-scale computing solutions,” NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement.

Mellanox founder and CEO Eyal Waldman said the companies have a long history of joint innovation, including their contributions to building Sierra and Summit, the world’s two fastest supercomputers operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. 

Many of the world’s top cloud service providers use both NVIDIA GPUs, or graphics processing units, and Mellanox interconnects, the companies said.

Latham, V&E, Kirkland advise on EQM’s $1.03B bolt-on

EQM Midstream Partners announced it’s acquiring 60 percent of Eureka Midstream Holdings and all of Hornet Midstream Holdings from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners for $1.03 billion.

The price includes $860 million in cash and $170 million in assumed pro-rata debt. The parties expect to close the deal April 15.

Latham & Watkins counseled Equitrans Midstream Corp. and EQM Midstream Partners with a corporate team led by Houston partners Ryan Maierson and Nick Dhesi with associates Ryan Lynch, Thomas Verity, Daniel Harrist, Bryan Ryan, Caroline Ellerbe and Lexi Udeh.

Specialists included Houston tax partner Tim Fenn and associates Jim Cole and Michael Rowe along with environmental partner Joel Mack, also of Houston.

Citi and Guggenheim Securities provided financial advice to EQM and were placement agents for a $1.1 billion convertible preferred unit issuance to pay for the deal.

Vinson & Elkins represented Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, including partner Peter Marshall, senior associates Matt Falcone and Jeannie Poland and associates H.T. Flanagan and Daryne Foote. Also advising were partners John Lynch, Stephen Jacobson and Sean Becker.

Kirkland & Ellis advised the lead purchasers of the units, including BlackRock, GSO Capital Partners and Magnetar Capital. The team included partners John Pitts, Kevin Crews and Sam Peca and associates Allan Kirk, Paul Rogers Knowlton, Hannah Marshall, Efren Lemus, Zain Rifat and David Wilson.

Also weighing in were tax partners David Wheat, Mark Dundon and Lane Morgan and associate William Dong; and capital markets partner Julian Seiguer and associate Mark Kam.

The proposed acquisition is the first by EQM since it was spun-off from EQT Corp.

Eureka Midstream is a 190-mile gathering header pipeline system in Ohio and West Virginia that services natural gas producers in the Utica Shale and the Marcellus in Appalachia.

Kirkland, V&E aid on TPG’s $930M Goodnight purchase

As The Texas Lawbook reported last week, TPG Capital agreed to buy a majority stake in Tailwater Capital-backed Goodnight Midstream of Dallas for $930 million.

The sale preempts Goodnight’s plans to go public, althoughBloomberg reported in November that Tailwater was also looking at a possible sale of the company that would value it at $2 billion. Tailwater wouldn’t comment at the time.

Kirkland & Ellis was outside legal counsel to TPG Capital, which used BMO Capital Markets as its financial advisor.

Corporate partners Adam Larson and Kevin Crews co-led the deal, which included partner Sam Peca and associates Scott Delaney, Mike Pangrac and Cameron McCollum.

Also weighing in were Kirkland tax partners David Wheat and Lane Morgan; and environmental transactions partners Paul Tanaka (who works out of San Francisco and Houston) andAlexandra Farmer(who works out of D.C. and Houston) and associate Ty’Meka Reeves-Sobers.

Vinson & Elkins was outside counsel to Goodnight, which used Jefferies and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) as its financial advisors. Partner Gillian Hobson led the deal team with senior associates Ali Choate and Jeannie Poland.

Also advising on corporate matters were partner Chris Collins, senior associate Robbie Hopkins and associate Ayman Haq. Partners Ryan Carney and James Meyerand associate Christine Mainguy provided tax expertise. Hobson and partner David Oelman were going to work on the IPO.

The parties expect to close the transaction in the second quarter.

JD advises Samuels Jewelers on $16M Chapter 11 sale

Jones Day said partner Greg Gordon in Dallas led the team advising Samuels Jewelers Inc. on the Chapter 11 sale of its inventory, receivables and intellectual property to Wells Fargo for $16 million in credit.

Last month the debtors notified the bankruptcy court that they had received only Wells Fargo’s bid for almost all of the debtors’ assets and that the auction had been canceled. 

The bank will be responsible for certain assumed liabilities and cure costs. The debtors’ debtor-in-possession obligations to Wells Fargo remain unchanged.

Dwyer Murphy, DLA Piper aid on Datical’s $10M funding

Datical announced Feb. 28 that it attracted $10 million in funding from new investor River Cities Capital Funds, giving the company $27 million in total.

Existing investors S3 Ventures and Mercury Fund also participated. River Cities vice president Adam Midkiff has joined Datical’s board.

Neither party would provide outside counsel on the deal. But after several weeks of digging, The Texas Lawbook has learned that Dwyer Murphy Calvert partner Bill Murphy assisted Datical while DLA Piper partner Jenifer Smith counseled the investors.

Datical claims to be the leading provider of database release automation solutions. It aims to use the funds to sustain its growth by expanding its research and development, customer success capabilities and sales and marketing functions. 

“We are the market leader and have seen enormous growth in the last three years,” CEO Derek Hutson said in a statement. “This funding provides fuel for further innovation and expansion as Datical’s remarkable momentum has proven that modernizing the database release process is a necessary step in any digital transformation journey.”

Datical helps enterprises keep up with the rapidly accelerating application release cycle by automating database releases while eliminating risks that cause application downtime and data security vulnerabilities.

“Datical is solving a critical, yet often overlooked problem facing development teams today,” Midkiff said.

At the end of last year, Datical had increased its annual subscription revenue by 94 percent and its customer base by 30 percent year-over-year, including MedImpact, Freddie Mac, Anthem, Colonial Life and Zions Bancorp. It also relocated its Austin headquarters to accommodate aggressive employee growth.

Kirkland, T&K counsel on Red Wolf’s Pearl partnership

Kirkland & Ellis said it advised newly formed Red Wolf Natural Resources on its partnership with private oil and gas investment firm Pearl Energy Investments in Dallas. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The two plan to go after upstream development and acquisition opportunities focused on the Mid-Continent region and select Rockies basins.

The team was led by corporate partner Kevin Crews and associates Leon Johnson, William Eiland and Monica Dion, all of Dallas. Tax partners David Wheat and Lane Morgan also pitched in.

Thompson & Knight partner and Dallas office leader Holt Foster III counseled Pearl with team members Marc Lombardi, Todd Keator, Tony Campiti, Tim Johnston and Jana Wight.

Shearman advises StoryFit on $1.75M funding

StoryFit, an Austin provider of predictive artifical intelligence analytics for the publishing and entertainment industry, has raised $1.75 million in new funding. 

The lead investor was ff Venture Capital. Other participants were Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Ascend Venture Capital, Walt Winshall, Techstars and Capital Factory.

Shearman & Sterling advised StoryFit, including partner Alan Bickerstaff in Austin. There were no Texas lawyers for the investor side.

The company plans to use the funds for hiring and further advancements in content-based analytics, including predictive technology, audience identification and industry trends.

StoryFit is led by founder and CEO Monica Landers, COO Rudy Prince and CTO Mark Bessen. It said it delivers a data-driven platform able to help decision-making throughout a story’s lifecycle, from acquisition and creative development through production greenlight and marketing and distribution.

The company said its platform uses artificial intelligence to measure more than 100,000 features and compare with thousands of other books or scripts to generate “actionable insights.”

T&K advises Tailwater on Petro Waste sale to WM Energy

Dallas private equity firm Tailwater Capital has sold Petro Waste Environmental to Waste Management Inc. unit WM Energy Services Holdings for an undisclosed sum.

Thompson & Knight represented Tailwater with a team led by Jesse E. Betts and J. Holt Foster III. 

Others who worked on the deal were partners J. Dean Hinderliter, Gregg C. Davis, Debra J. Villarreal, Anthony J. Campiti, Jason Patrick Loden, James C. Morriss III, William J. Schuerger, William Katz, Jr. and C. Walker Brierre. The associates were Minator Azemi, Marc A. Lombardi, Timothy J. Johnston and Lindsay Kirton.

Kansas City-based law firm Stinson Leonard Street counseled Waste Management, whose chief legal officer is Charles Boettcher. Boettcher was in private practice at Thompson & Knight for almost eight years and also previously served as general counsel of Oilfield Water Logistics and Eagle Rock Energy Partners.

Barclays was Petro Waste’s financial advisor on the transaction. Waste Management used Tudor, Pickering, Holt.

San Antonio-based Petro Waste is a provider of oilfield environmental services and solid waste disposal in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford shale plays. 

Tailwater founded the company in 2014 in partnership with founder and CEO George Wommack and it now claims to be a top landfill operator in the Permian. It has organically permitted five landfills, acquired two landfill permits and built five state-of-the-art facilities.

“This acquisition expands Waste Management Energy Services’ business to provide superior and differentiated solid waste disposal services to oil and gas producing customers operating in Texas,” Scott Bradley, Waste Management’s Four Corners area VP, said in a statement.

Edward Herring and David Cecere led the deal from Tailwater, which manages $2.7 billion in committed capital. Its team has executed more than 100 energy transactions in the upstream and midstream sectors representing $19 billion in transaction value. 

T&K aids Tradition on Shongaloo sale to Energy Transfer

Thompson & Knight represented EnCap Flatrock Midstream-backed Tradition Midstream on the sale of Shongaloo Midstream to Energy Transfer for undisclosed terms, a T&K spokeswoman said.

Thompson & Knight’s deal team included Wes Williams, Nathan Meredith, Roger Aksamit and Marc Lombardi. The deal closed last week.

Shearman & Sterling counseled EnCap Flatrock.

Tradition received a $200 million equity commitment from Denham Capital in 2011 to help it take advantage of the increasing need for new and expanded infrastructure by U.S. oil and gas producers. EnCap invested $100 million in the company in 2013.

Shongaloo gathers natural gas for producers targeting the liquids-rich Cotton Valley, Haynesville and Smackover formations in the northern Louisiana Salt Basin.

Tradition says on its website that Shongaloo operates more than 65 miles of gathering pipelines and was expected to build 20 more by the end of the third quarter of last year.

The company is led by president Don Brown, who previously built up Millennium Midstream Partners and sold it to Eagle Rock Energy Partners in 2008 for $236 million. CFO James Lee, COO Bryan Johnson and VP of land and right-of-way Mark Edge also worked at Millennium. Brown, Lee and Johnson first began working together at Dynegy in 1996.

Locke Lord aids Matador on San Mateo contracts

Locke Lord said it represented Matador Resources Co. on a group of long-term natural gas, crude oil and produced water midstream contracts with San Mateo Midstream II involving Matador’s properties in the Delaware Basin. Terms weren’t disclosed.

San Mateo Midstream II is a newly formed joint venture between Matador Resources and Five Point Capital Partners, a Houston private equity fund. 

The Locke Lord team included Jason Schumacher, Henry Benton, Joe Carmical and Kelsey French, all of Dallas, and a regulatory attorney in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.

Craig Adams is Matador’s executive VP of land, legal and administration. The Texas Tech law graduate previously was in private practice at Baker Botts and Thompson & Knight in Dallas.

Houston-based Five Point was represented by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, including partner Frank Bayouth and associate Marc-Anthony Delgado in Houston.

Locke Lord also advised Matador and San Mateo Midstream on long-term crude purchase and crude transportation contracts with affiliates of Plains All American Pipeline last year, with Schumacher leading that team as well.

The operations will be owned in the same proportions as San Mateo I—51 percent by Matador and 49 percent by Five Point. As part of the expansion, another cryogenic natural gas processing plant will be built close to the existing Black River cryogenic natural gas processing plant near Carlsbad, N.M., in Matador’s Rustler Breaks asset area. 

The first plant began operating in 2016, was expanded to 260 million cubic feet of natural gas per day last year and is almost fully subscribed.

San Mateo also plans to expand its natural gas pipeline system to run from the Black River Processing Plant north to Matador’s Stebbins leasehold area and south to Matador’s new Stateline asset area, which was acquired as part of the Bureau of Land Management New Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale in September. 

The additional salt water gathering and disposal and oil gathering facilities will be located across Matador’s Eddy County, New Mexico acreage, additional portions of which will be dedicated to San Mateo.

Matador dedicated to San Mateo acreage under 15-year, fixed-fee contracts in the Stebbins and surrounding acreage in the Arrowhead asset area and Matador’s Stateline asset area totaling around 25,500 gross acres. 

In exchange, Matador will get a capital carry to fund the expansion of the midstream assets. That will enable the company to only have to pay $25 million of the first $150 million in capital expenditures related to the expansion and earn up to $150 million in deferred performance incentives over the next five years along with incentives for adding third-party customers, among other things.

Matador chairman and CEO Joseph Wm. Foran said the transaction represents the accomplishment of one of the company’s strategic goals for 2019.

Matt Morrow led the deal from Five Point, which manages more than $2.5 billion in capital across multiple investment funds.

GT aids on FastSigns sale to LightBay, Freeman

LightBay Capital and Freeman Spogli have acquired FastSigns International from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.

LightBay and Freeman Spogli were represented by Proskauer and FastSigns was counseled by Kirkland & Ellis and Greenberg Traurig.

The GT team included shareholder Nan Braley and associate Shayla Friesen in Texas.

FastSigns used North Point Advisors and Harris Williams as its financial advisors. Ares Capital Corp. and other affiliated Ares Management funds provided senior debt financing to FastSigns in connection with the acquisition.

Carrollton-based FastSigns claims to be the largest franchisor in the signage and visual graphics industry. Founded in 1985, it has more than 700 locations in 45 U.S. states and eight other countries, including Canada, England, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Grand Cayman, Mexico, Chile and Australia. The company is led by CEO Catherine Monson.

David Burcham led the deal from Los Angeles-based LightBay. Brad Brutocao did so from Freeman Spogli, which has invested more than $4 billion in 60 portfolio companies worth $23 billion since its 1983 founding.  It’s currently making investments from its seventh fund.

CAPITAL MARKETS

Latham aids Sunoco on upsizing, pricing of $600M notes

Latham & Watkins said it advised Sunoco on the upsizing and pricing of a private offering of $600 million worth of 6 percent senior notes due 2027.

Sunoco Finance Corp., a unit of Sunoco, served as co-issuer of the notes.

Partners John Greer led the deal team with associates Kevin Richardson, Om Pandya, Lexi Udeh and Kate Wang.

Sunoco plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under its $1.5 billion revolving credit facility.

Sunoco is a master limited partnership that distributes motor fuel to about 10,000 convenience stores, independent dealers, commercial customers and distributors in more than 30 states. Its general partner is owned by Energy Transfer Operating LP, a unit of Energy Transfer.

Latham advises Centennial on $500M in private notes

Latham & Watkins also advised Denver-based Centennial Resource Development Inc. on a $500 million private offering of senior unsecured notes.

That team also was led by partner John Greer with associates Thomas Verity, Dan Harrist, Madeleine Neet and Ashlyn Royall.

The notes, which priced at 99.235 percent of the aggregate principal amount, will mature on April 1, 2027 and will pay interest at an annual rate of 6.875 percent.

The notes will be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by each of Centennial’s subsidiaries that guarantee its revolving credit facility and by future units. Centennial won’t guarantee the notes.

Centennial plans to use the net proceeds of the offering to repay all outstanding borrowings under its revolver and the rest for general corporate purposes.

Baker Botts, T&K advise on Rimrock’s $200M loan

Energy Spectrum Capital-backed Rimrock Energy Partners said March 11 that it secured a $200 million credit facility led by BOK Financial.

Baker Botts was Rimrock’s outside legal counsel with a team that included partner Andrew Thomison and associates Malory Weir and Samantha Chestney. Thompson & Knight finance practice leader Shad Sumrow, associate Sarah Frazier and oil and gas practice leader Debra Villarreal represented BOK.

Dallas-based Rimrock is focused on acquiring, developing and managing midstream energy assets across multiple commodities. 

The company said it would use the proceeds to support the buildout of its Pierce natural gas gathering and processing system, which serves producers in the northern DJ Basin.

CFO Jeff Derner said in a statement that the facility, combined with its equity capital available from Energy Spectrum, provides ample liquidity to keep pace with the growing gas volumes across the region.

The Rimrock management team has more than 100 years of experience in midstream operations and has completed projects with a total enterprise value exceeding $1.5 billion.

Scott Miller led the deal from BOK Financial, a $38 billion regional financial services company based in Tulsa, Okla.

Energy Spectrum is a midstream-focused private equity firm that has raised more than $4.4 billion in capital commitments focused on investing in North America’s energy infrastructure. Since its 1996 inception, it’s sponsored more than 55 portfolio companies.

UPDATE

Another potential initial public offering has canceled its issue. 

Preferred Sands, a KKR-backed sand-based proppant solutions provider to the oil and gas industry, withdrew a filing from August 2017 without an explanation.

The Radnor, Pa.-based company had planned to trade on the New York Stock Exchange with the help of underwriters Credit Suisse, KKR and Morgan Stanley.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison was advising the company out of New York and Latham & Watkins partners J. Michael Chambers and Ryan J. Maierson were counseling the underwriters.

***

Rent-A-Center’s exit from its $1.4 billion sale to Vintage Capital Management seems to be assured.

Delaware Chancery Judge Sam Glasscock III ruled March 14 that Plano-based Rent-A-Center could walk away from the transaction given that Vintage missed a Dec. 17 deadline to extend the two’s merger agreement.

The judge said Vintage hadn’t shown why Rent-A-Center couldn’t exercise its contractual right. He hasn’t yet ruled on whether Rent-A-Center can collect on the $126.5 million break-up fee that was part of the merger agreement.

Vintage claimed that Rent-A-Center wanted to cancel the deal because its business was doing better after the transaction was announced. It also said that the two companies had worked out an extension with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as part of the antitrust review (Vintage owns competing chain Buddy’s Home Furnishings).

Winston & Strawn’s Dallas office was counseling Rent-A-Center on the deal, which The Texas Lawbook covered in June of last year. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was advising Vintage with attorneys out of its Palo Alto office. Christopher Korst is Rent-a-Center’s general counsel.

JP Morgan was Rent-A-Center’s financial advisor and B. Riley FBR was Vintage’s financial advisor and Guggenheim Corporate Funding was its administrative agent and joint lead arranger. The transaction didn’t have to clear any financing conditions, but B. Riley Financial and its affiliates committed to serve as equity and debt participants in the transaction.

***

Latham & Watkins said it advised Spain’s Enagás in connection with Blackstone’s previously announced $3.2 billion purchase of a controlling interest in infrastructure provider Tallgrass Energy, a deal The Texas Lawbook reported on in January. 

Enagás, which was part of a buying consortium that included Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, will pay $590 million for a 10.93 percent indirect ownership interest in Tallgrass.

Blackstone said March 11 it closed the purchase from the sellers, which included Kelso & Co., the Energy & Minerals Group and Talgrass KC, which is owned by Tallgrass management.

The Latham team was led by Houston partners Jeff Muñoz, Debbie Yee and Bill Finnegan and a partner in its Madrid office. Assisting them were Houston associates Kevin Richardson, Ryan Lynch, Dan Harrist, Alice Parker, Lexi Udeh and Bo Rose.

Specialists included Houston partner Tim Fenn and associate Jim Cole on tax; Houston partner Robin Fredrickson and associate Corey Allen on oil and gas-related matters; and Houston partner Trevor Wommack on finance.

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