CDT Roundup: 8 Deals, 10 Firms, 50 Lawyers, $6.9B

It’s not exactly news that the Texas oil & gas industry could use some good news. But that may have come Friday with the emerging possibility that the benchmarking of Texas oil may actually start happening in Texas.

Explain, you say.

April 20 was the day oil prices went south. They didn’t just drop, they plummeted, with the May WTI contract ending that day at -$37.63 bbl.

The proximate cause was the collapse of worldwide demand packed with the collapse of an agreement on scaled-back production levels between OPEC+ and Russia. But some analysts believed at the time that the real problem with the breathtaking negative benchmark was the way West Texas crude oil is priced in the first place.

Low in sulfur and viscosity, West Texas oil is highly valued because it is so easily refined. But its price is not set in West Texas; it’s set in Cushing, Oklahoma, the hub of a host of pipelines, terminals and storage tank facilities — so many that Cushing refers to itself as “The Pipeline Crossroads of the World.” And in 1983, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) agreed and chose Cushing as the physical point benchmarking nearly all oil futures produced in North America.

But in the last decade or so, analysts have complained about the “landlocked” nature of the current WTI benchmark. The problem is that the WTI pricing floor is ultimately dependent on Cushing storage capacity: If demand is up, the oil moves out of Cushing; if demand drops, what’s piped to Cushing stays in Cushing. Once capacity is reached, the nearest alternative sits 500 miles south along the Texas Gulf Coast where international tankers await to potentially absorb and transport excess supply to international points of demand.

So, on Friday without a great deal of fanfare, two major price reporting agencies, S&P Global Platts and Argus Media launched their own benchmarks for West Texas crude, both based on pricing at the Texas Gulf Coast and both angling to avoid the shortcomings of the WTI.

The new Platts American GulfCoast Select (AGS) benchmark will represent the value of waterborne light, sweet crude delivered from the Permian by various pipelines (Midland-to-ECHO I & II, Gray Oak, Longhorn, BridgeTex, etc.) and loaded from various Texas ports FOB 15 to 45 days from the day of assessment.

In essence, it’s much like the Brent benchmark which prices waterborne North Sea oil at the Brent Complex in the Shetland Islands.

“Platts AGS at last brings the U.S. market a Brent of its own,” said Vera Blei, global director of oil at S&P Global Platts. “This new benchmark reflects the value of US crude oil that is on the water, internationally connected and free from the distortions of domestic infrastructure economics.”

Argus Media also launched their new benchmark called American GulfCoast Select. The concept is a similar effort to free oil pricing from the confines of Cushing, but the pricing sources are not as broad as the Platt and its methodology will include a differential tethered to Cushing prices to make it hedge-friendly on the NYMEX. 

Other attempts have been made to benchmark Texas oil outside Cushing, but they never really caught on. But both S&P Global and Argus arrive with “Black April” still fresh in market memories — and timing, after all, is everything.

Texas deal-making last week remained a close fit with these complicated times, with only eight new deals worth $6.9 billion.

The week before last there were 12 deals worth $4.4 billion. And this time last year, there were 23 deals worth $8.3 billion involving 15 firms and 154 Texas lawyers.

But even the biggest deal this past week was a discounted reboot of a merger announced last December. Two other deals involved bankruptcy or the prospect of bankruptcy. And several others involved exchanges that rescheduled or extended debt.

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 Count	Amount	Firms	Lawyers	M&A Count	M&A Value $M	CapM Count	CapM Value $M
09-Nov-24	14	$2,110	12	139	12	$1,410	2	$700
02-Nov-24	12	$52,788	11	107	11	$52,738	1	$50
26-Oct-24	8	$3,160	8	65	7	$3,065	1	$75
19-Oct-24	12	$5,304	11	136	11	$4,554	1	$750
12-Oct-24	17	$8,438	12	150	15	$8,116	2	$322
05-Oct-24	22	$23,181	12	189	15	$19,980	7	$3,201
28-Sep-24	11	$2,356	7	144	7	$53	4	$2,303
21-Sep-24	12	$9,568	10	169	5	$4,101	7	$5,467
14-Sep-24	24	$10,988	12	235	16	$7,175	8	$3,813
7-Sep-24	12	$20,420	16	168	11	$20,307	1	$112.9
31-Aug-24	13	$20,631	9	134	12	$14,775	1	$5,856
24-Aug-24	19	$8,452	21	325	16	$7,102	3	$1,350
17-Aug-24	25	$49,196	16	304	11	$39,386	14	$9,810
10-Aug-24	20	$12,264	15	312	16	$9,794	4	$2,470
03-Aug-24	26	$16,498	16	334	18	$8,137	8	$8,361
27-Jul-24	19	$16,442	21	271	15	$13,838	4	$2,604
20-Jul-24	15	$16,016	14	184	10	$14,232	5	$1,784
13-Jul-24	20	$17,220	14	265	18	$7,146	2	$10,074
6-Jul-24	11	$3,941	11	95	8	$2,650	3	$1,291
29-Jun-24	14	$6,296	15	224	8	$6,296	6	$1,927
22-Jun-24	12	$5,679	8	137	5	$210	7	$5,469
15-Jun-24	13	$9,895	16	214	10	$5,280	3	$4,615
8-Jun-24	19	$23,859	13	239	12	$19,436	7	$4,423
1-Jun-24	12	$34,510	11	147	9	$26,110	3	$8,400
25-May-24	13	$9,684	15	171	10	$4,434	3	$5,250
18-May-24	11	$5,490	11	173	8	$3,129	3	$2,361
11-May-24	22	$14,855	14	227	16	$11,105	6	$3,750
4-May-24	13	$3,139	9	87	10	$1,297	3	$1,842
27-Apr-24	10	$6,684	6	28	10	$6,684	0	0
20-Apr-24	19	$15,989	11	147	9	$5,208	10	$10,781
13-Apr-24	13	$8,952	9	76	10	$1,652	3	$7,300
6-Apr-24	22	$22,616	14	222	14	$13,501	8	$13,116
30-Mar-24	12	$9,286	8	136	8	$4,299	4	$4,987
23-Mar-24	18	$5,451	17	266	16	$4,759	2	$692
16-Mar-24	21	$11,437	13	186	14	$9,316	6	$2,070
9-Mar-24	23	$4,695	21	218	19	$2,723	4	$1,972
2-Mar-24	20	$9,108	19	372	14	$4,558	6	$4,550
24-Feb-24	19	$16,382	12	248	15	$9,507	4	$6,875
17-Feb-24	16	$29,932	15	157	12	$29,216	4	$716
10-Feb-24	25	$10,750	17	196	19	$5,372	6	$5,379
3-Feb-24	12	$8,416	18	125	9	$3,416	3	$5,000
27-Jan-24	9	$8,165	9	87	8	$7,815	1	$800
20-Jan-24	14	$4,084	12	109	12	$3,219	2	$865
13-Jan-24	17	$33,588	12	256	12	$26,765	5	$6,823
6-Jan-24	8	$7,915	8	84	6	$7,265	2	$650
30-Dec-23	17	$14,599	12	99	15	$2,714	2	$11,885
23-Dec-23	23	$4,182	13	219	16	$1,813	7	$2,370
16-Dec-23	13	$16,436	13	280	7	$15,150	5	$1,286
9-Dec-23	26	$14,633.90	17	244	16	$8,095	10	$6,538.90
2-Dec-23	13	$6,720	9	57	12	$6,630	1	$90
25-Nov-23	9	$4,835	9	131	6	$1,785	3	$3,050
18-Nov-23	22	$6,568.70	17	184	14	$4,709.20	8	$1,859.50
11-Nov-23	15	$9,825	13	179	12	$6,581	3	$3,244
4-Nov-23	15	$20,582.50	14	193	12	$19,417.50	3	$1,165
28-Oct-23	18	$68,419.10	18	152	15	$66,646	3	$1,773.10
21-Oct-23	16	$6,755.90	16	165	15	$6,755.90	1	$3
14-Oct-23	14	$67,851.20	13	125	9	$61,998.50	5	$5,852.70
7-Oct-23	17	$6,595.50	13	228	16	$5,995.50	1	$600
30-Sep-23	17	$1,896.45	13	189	14	$806.45	3	$1,090
23-Sep-23	23	$6,432.70	17	230	16	$1,402.80	7	$5,029.90
16-Sep-23	25	$23,226.70	23	353	16	$17,239	9	$5,987.70
9-Sep-23	12	$6,369	8	102	7	$4,311	5	$2,058
2-Sep-23	14	$2,522	6	92	13	$1,322	1	$1,200
26-Aug-23	17	$12,160.25	13	202	15	$6,573.25	2	$5,587.00
19-Aug-23	19	$11,505	13	213	15	$11,255	4	$250
12-Aug-23	19	$9,698.80	13	184	7	$3,270	12	$6,428.80
5-Aug-23	13	$5,201	12	118	12	$5,051	1	$150
29-Jul-23	15	$21,031.60	13	196	11	$18,292.00	4	$2,739.60
22-Jul-23	18	$3,992	12	130	13	$2,808	5	$1,184
15-Jul-23	13	$8,254.95	13	81	13	$8,254.95	0	0
8-Jul-23	16	$5,441.45	12	172	11	$2,443	5	$2,998.45
1-Jul-23	16	$6,872	10	105	12	$5,474	4	$1,398
24-Jun-23	13	$10,914	16	201	10	$7,874	3	$3,040
17-Jun-23	17	$5,880.70	15	151	15	$4,705.70	2	$1,175
10-Jun-23	19	$8,516.10	13	111	16	$6,252.40	3	$2,263.70
June 3 2023	12	$6,104.42	12	138	8	$4,256.92	4	$1,847.50
27-May-23	17	$12,200	10	67	11	$6,165	6	$6,035
20-May-23	11	$22,458.10	8	103	4	$19,455	7	$3,003
13-May-23	12	$7,034	10	101	8	$5,460	4	$1,574
6-May-23	20	$3,297.60	18	196	17	$2,985.60	3	$312
29-Apr-23	23	$3,691.20	18	135	17	$1,969.70	6	$1,721.50
22-Apr-23	16	$5,570	14	104	14	$4,750	2	$1,000
15-Apr-23	12	$23,818.10	9	59	10	$21,618.10	2	$2,200
8-Apr-23	16	$7,949	9	173	9	$5,472	7	$3,477
1-Apr-23	21	$18,676.70	12	175	11	$10,926.70	10	$7,750
25-Mar-23	15	$8,779.50	10	141	5	$2,362	10	$6,416.50
18-Mar-23	7	$14,048.80	6	69	5	$13,345	2	$703.80
11-Mar-23	21	$11,576	16	165	16	$8,131	5	$3,445
4-Mar-23	20	$9,668	11	228	16	$8,209	4	$1,459
25-Feb-23	13	$5,335	13	130	12	$4,235	1	$1,200
18-Feb-23	14	$5,743.70	13	158	8	$898.70	6	$4,845
11-Feb-23	16	$12,088	12	137	12	$9,965	4	$2,123
4-Feb-23	17	$8,066	15	140	13	$5,614	4	$2,452
28-Jan-23	7	$2,180	7	75	5	$1,692.75	2	$488
21-Jan-23	17	$5,768	16	174	12	$1,918	5	$3,850
14-Jan-23	11	$2, 800	10	102	8	$421	3	$2,400
7-Jan-23	18	$8,296	11	167	14	$6,461	3	$1,835
31-Dec-22	14	$2,732	11	99	12	$2,092	2	$640
17-Dec	14	$7,919	13	115	12	$7,419	1	$500
10-Dec-22	14	$10,093	12	88	11	$7,093	3	$3,000
3-Dec-22	26	$12,800.90	11	172	20	$4,141	6	$8,659.90
26-Nov-22	8	$2,266.70	8	5	3	$76	5	$2,190.70
19-Nov-22	21	$2,886	15	212	19	$2,550	2	$336
12-Nov-22	13	$15,093.70	9	81	9	$14,200	4	$893.70
5-Nov-22	25	19,337.20	16	509	22	$8,267.20	3	$11,070
29-Oct-22	15	$7,805.30	9	116	14	$7,180.30	1	$625
22-Oct-22	20	$8,193.50	13	253	13	$5,442	7	$2,751.50
15-Oct-22	9	$3,046.10	9	139	7	$2,588.30	2	$457.80
8-Oct-22	19	$2,011.80	12	114	16	$833.80	3	$1,178
1-Oct-22	23	$5,532.90	16	156	18	$4,952.30	5	$580.60
24-Sep-22	18	$5,194	14	216	15	$4,050	3	$1,144
17-Sep-22	21	$8,352.30	12	320	15	$4,759.60	6	$3,592.70
10-Sep-22	15	$19,853.50	10	126	13	$19,403.60	2	$450
3-Sep-22	9	$2,312	9	62	9	$2,312	0	0
27-Aug-22	16	$30,891.70	10	135	15	$30,666.40	1	227.7
20-Aug-22	12	$1,977	8	152	9	925	3	$1,052
13-Aug-22	18	$8,004.70	11	242	11	$2,844.70	7	$5,160
6-Aug-22	24	$7,948.90	12	240	17	$3,577	7	$4,371.90
30-Jul-22	8	$6,941	9	78	7	$6,839	1	$102
23-Jul-22	11	$801	11	92	10	$801	1	0
16-Jul-22	14	$3,650	10	122	14	$3,650	0	0
9-Jul-22	10	$3,557.70	7	68	9	$3,557.70	1	0
2-Jul-22	18	$8,609.40	13	152	15	$2,754.40	3	$5,855
25-Jun-22	15	$6,142	13	146	9	$2,017	6	$4,125
18-Jun-22	17	$11,890.10	14	228	15	$11,410	2	479.7
11-Jun-22	17	$7,600	12	123	10	$2,300	7	$5,300
4-Jun-22	12	$2,937	10	127	9	$692	3	$2,245
28-May-22	9	$3,197.60	11	86	9	$3,197.60	0	0
21-May-22	14	$7,284.50	12	185	11	$6,609	3	$675.50
14-May-22	11	$306.60	9	80	10	$306.60	1	$225
7-May-22	16	$10,451.75	12	108	12	$1,827	4	$8,624.75
30-Apr-22	16	$2,296.50	16	157	12	$895.50	4	$1,401
23-Apr-22	10	$2,241	11	58	8	$1,641	2	$600
16-Apr-22	11	$6,643	7	156	8	$2,359	3	$4,284
9-Apr-22	17	$4,429	14	184	11	$1,690	6	$2,739
2-Apr-22	13	$1,755	8	84	10	$1,145	3	$610
26-Mar-22	11	$3,205	8	65	6	$200	5	$3,005
19-Mar-22	13	$2,239.17	9	106	13	$2,239.17	0	0
12-Mar-22	18	$12,016	11	239	15	$11,965	2	$51.35
5-Mar-22	17	$6,786	13	137	13	$5,161	4	$1,625
26-Feb-22	12	$5,095	8	149	9	$4,437.50	3	$658
19-Feb-22	17	$22,229	17	174	14	$21,354	3	$875
12-Feb-22	12	$2,344.70	10	73	8	$641.70	4	$1,703
5-Feb-22	11	$2,503	8	99	11	$2,503	0	0
29-Jan-22	11	$3,872	12	101	12	$3,872	0	0
22-Jan-22	13	$5,143.50	10	99	12	$4,842.50	1	$301
15-Jan-22	12	$7,605	9	155	9	$6,480	3	$1,025
8-Jan-22	13	$8,256.20	11	102	13	$8,256.20	0	0
1-Jan-22	9	$1,273.80	6	50	9	$1,273.80	0	0
25-Dec-21	21	$4,734.75	11	176	16	$3,410	5	$1,324.75
18-Dec-21	26	$7,325.20	15	193	18	$3,640.20	8	$3,685.20
11-Dec-21	16	$5,017	10	109	13	$1,417	3	$3,600
4-Dec-21	14	$2,310	8	86	8	$2,310	6	$1,882.05
27-Nov-21	9	$3.460.1	10	101	6	$1,758	3	$1,702.60
20-Nov-21	20	$22,792	15	157	12	$18,864.50	8	$3,928
13-Nov-21	21	$26,729	12	178	13	$11,822	8	$14,907
6-Nov-21	12	$8,303	13	157	10	$6,682	3	$1,621
30-Oct-21	21	$10,368	15	218	15	$9,24.4	6	$1,103.00
23-Oct-21	21	$18.783.1	15	222	11	$12,314	10	$6,468.60
16-Oct-21	15	$3,868	11	118	15	$2,293	2	$1,575
9-Oct-21	20	$8,610	16	175	16	$7,795	4	$815
2-Oct-21	14	$6,250	11	137	10	$5,200	4	$1,050
25-Sep-21	11	$11,460	9	93	7	$10,200	4	$1,250
18-Sep-21	11	$16,603	8	99	8	$15,084	3	$1,519
11-Sep-21	17	$10,653	11	103	13	$8,503	4	$2,150
4-Sep-21	13	$7,222	10	89	11	$6,715	2	$507
28-Aug-21	12	$763	9	63	11	$663	1	$100
21-Aug-21	12	$29,659	7	79	11	$29,579	1	$80
14-Aug-21	22	$17,845	11	199	12	$12,805	10	$5,04
7-Aug-21	17	$13,670	12	139	15	$11,766	2	$1,904
31-Jul-21	21	$8,160	11	134	10	$3,574	10	$4,586
July 24,2021	21	$6,367	11	139	15	$3,712	6	$2,655
17-Jul-21	14	$4,009	11	124	12	$2,015	2	$1,994
10-Jul-21	16	$3,997	13	143	11	$1,597	4	$2,4
3-Jul-21	24	$7,492	13	94	16	$3,769	8	$3,722
26-Jun-21	10	$4,995	7	85	8	$3,847	2	$1,148
19-Jun-21	28	$16,830	8	228	9	$1,861	19	$14,968
12-Jun-21	26	$27,238	15	209	19	$25,602	7	$1,636
5-Jun-21	15	$15,539	13	100	13	$14,709	2	$600
29-May-21	35	$20,279	11	145	28	$18,64	7	$1,639
22-May-21	24	$53,208	14	174	17	$51,047	7	$2,161
15-May-21	18	$10,620	13	220	11	$5,870	7	$4,809
8-May-21	17	$10,400	11	156	15	$8,386	2	$2,500
1-May-21	21	$7,200	16	115	12	$3,808	9	$3,392
24-Apr-21	8	$20,200	9	31	8	$20,200	0	0
17-Apr-21	14	$6,270	8	102	11	$40,180	3	$2,260
10-Apr-21	15	$8,940	13	129	14	$7,990	1	$950
3-Apr-21	18	$19,513	10	151	12	$16,923	6	$2,590
27-Mar-21	27	$13,942	15	244	14	$4,300	13	$9,633.50
20-Mar-21	11	$2,046	4	102	3	$270	8	$1,776
13-Mar-21	15	$3,270	9	109	6	$538	9	$2,732
6-Mar-21	24	$13,617	10	196	13	$10,395	11	$3,222
27-Feb-21	19	$8,105	12	139	15	$4,970	4	$3,135
20-Feb-21	9	$8,820	9	153	8	$8,520	1	$300
13-Feb-21	12	$4,852.60	7	81	7	2,766	5	$2,086.60
6-Feb-21	18	$9,752	13	153	14	$5,222	4	$4,530
30-Jan-21	18	$9,449	9	182	15	$8,753.80	3	$695.30
23-Jan-21	14	$8,150	8	118	6	$4,000	8	$4,150
16-Jan-21	17	$6,783	13	138	11	$2,400	6	$4,382.90
9-Jan-21	22	$6,829	14	135	18	$3,139.30	4	$3,690
2-Jan-21	7	$1,466	7	60	7	$1,466	0	0
26-Dec-20	18	$15,900	12	163	16	$5,300	1	$600
19-Dec-20	18	$9,769	14	110	14	$8,426	4	$1,343
12-Dec-20	10	$7,200	9	100	9	$3,325	1	$3,830
5-Dec-20	15	$4,261	9	122	9	$2,780	6	$1,481
28-Nov-20	19	$7,758	10	110	13	$4,003	6	$3,755
14-Nov-20	14	$864.10	14	157	12	$289.10	2	$575
7-Nov-20	13	$6,332	9	129	9	$2,483.50	4	$3,849
31-Oct-20	10	$3,995.80	8	103	6	$3,231.10	4	$754.70
24-Oct-20	6	$18,100	6	58	5	$17,709	1	$350
17-Oct-20	8	$351.90	5	55	8	$351.90	0	0
10-Oct-20	7	$5,229	3	50	4	$735	3	$4,494
3-Oct-20	14	$21,428	9	173	9	$17,535	5	$3,893
26-Sep-20	10	$12,770	8	93	5	$10,300	5	$2,470
19-Sep-20	14	$8,365	9	101	6	$1,020	8	$7,345
12-Sep-20	6	$4,406	8	59	3	$1,270	3	$3,136
5-Sep-20	11	$5,191	8	117	9	$4,061	2	$1,130
29-Aug-20	11	$2,531	9	94	5	$1,130	6	$1,401
22-Aug-20	18	$6,574	12	140	7	$1,930	11	$4,644
15-Aug-20	13	$4,991	10	97	7	$1,216	6	$3,775
8-Aug-20	12	$32,092	11	112	9	$30,457	3	$1,635
1-Aug-20	7	$5,287	8	76	5	$3,687	2	$1,600
25-Jul-20	9	$18,751	6	67	7	$18,403	2	$348
18-Jul-20	6	$1,982.50	5	50	4	$1,407.50	2	$575
11-Jul-20	11	$565.10	12	75	10	$65.10	1	$500
4-Jul-20	10	$8,889	8	98	9	$8,788	1	$100.30
27-Jun-20	8	$6,874	10	50	5	$4,972.50	3	$2,081.50
20-Jun-20	12	$4,444	9	115	7	$2,829	5	$1,615
13-Jun-20	6	$3,582	4	37	2	$350	4	$3,232
6-Jun-20	11	$3,213.70	8	65	7	$470	4	$2,743.70
30-May-20	8	$7,335	7	48	6	$4,639	2	$2,697
23-May-20	4	$432.40	4	34	3	$432.40	1	0
16-May-20	6	$310	6	34	5	$310	1	0
9-May-20	18	$5,630	16	124	14	$3,180	4	$2,450
2-May-20	15	10,400	10	90	8	$1,900	7	$,8,500
25-Apr-20	8	$3,400	9	36	5	$1,000	3	$2,450
18-Apr-20	19	$9,500	14	92	8	$185.70	11	$9,360
11-Apr-20	12	$6,000	9	40	5	$190	7	$5,800
4-Apr-20	14	$8,200	11	68	10	$2,200	4	$6,000
28-Mar-20	16	$6,500	13	96	10	$3,700	6	$2,800
21-Mar-20	11	$11,910	7	33	7	$2,250	4	$9,960
14-Mar-20	7	809.8	6	34	6	684.8	1	125
7-Mar-20	16	$2,500	15	70	13	$669	3	$1,400
29-Feb-20	13	$15,260	13	128	11	$11,760	2	$3,500
22-Feb-20	12	$3,700	10	92	10	$2,560	2	$1,130
15-Feb-20	16	$1,250	10	84	12	$35	4	$1,222
8-Feb-20	18	$6,080	14	123	14	$2,595	4	$3,485
1-Feb-20	21	$20,900	12	101	14	$17,860	7	$3,060
25-Jan-20	13	$7,430	13	62	12	$6,430	1	$1,000
18-Jan-20	23	$9,580	15	120	19	$6,580	4	$3,000
11-Jan-20	21	$14,200	18	199	16	$1,020	5	$13,200
4-Jan-20	22	$6,400	11	119	16	$3,204	6	$3,245
28-Dec-19	22	$7,150	19	175	18	$6,800	4	$327.40
14-Dec-19	24	$36,300	23	167	19	$9,500	5	$26,800
7-Dec-19	11	$10,400	11	55	7	$1,082	4	$9,370
November 30. 2019	14	$2,450	12	126	12	$1,760	2	$692.50
23-Nov-19	16	$1,995	10	41	11	$615	5	$1,380
16-Nov-19	15	$3,820	13	135	11	$2,500	4	$1,271
9-Nov-19	25	$12,900	17	182	23	$12,200	2	$575
2-Nov-19	10	$2,470	12	61	9	2,450	3	$22
26-Oct-19	12	$5,560	14	70	11	$3,860	1	$1,700
19-Oct-19	8	$6,600	8	138	8	$6,600	0	0
12-Oct-19	19	$4,300	14	55	16	$3,800	3	$500
5-Oct-19	18	$14,500	19	166	15	$11,100	3	$3,400
28-Sep-19	19	$8,100	18	132	18	$7,560	1	$550
21-Sep-19	14	$6,300	16	66	11	$2,160	3	$4,170
14-Sep-19	15	$23,800	12	56	11	$21,250	4	$2,570
7-Sep-19	17	$3,500	15	98	14	$1,900	3	$1,600
31-Aug-19	5	$8,700	6	50	5	$8,700	0	0
24-Aug-19	16	$10,000	14	82	15	$4,250	1	$5,750
16-Aug-19	10	$1,680	5	52	7	$650	3	$950
9-Aug-19	17	$17,700	15	68	14	$3,900	3	$13,800
2-Aug-19	13	$5,760	12	108	13	$5,760	NA	NA
27-Jul-19	11	$7,300	13	76	8	$6,570	3	$730
20-Jul-19	13	$11,800	13	125	11	$5,300	2	$6,500
13-Jul-19	10	$775	7	46	8	$542.50	2	$233
6-Jul-19	7	$2,500	9	85	7	$2,500	0	0
29-Jun-19	23	$8,290	15	154	17	$2,300	6	$5,970
22-Jun-19	17	$10,700	10	139	14	$7,700	3	$3,000
15-Jun-19	11	$13,500	14	160	11	$13,500	NA	NA
8-Jun-19	13	$2,870	17	55	11	$1,570	2	$1,300
1-Jun-19	10	$4,460	11	60	8	$4,140	2	$315
25-May-19	17	$4,360	14	79	14	$3,700	3	$612
18-May-19	22	$9,000	17	150	16	$3,400	6	$5,600
11-May-19	18	$19,800	17	177	15	$18,300	3	$1,500
4-May-19	10	$7,075	6	32	8	$6,900	2	$175
27-Apr-19	15	$3,200	14	117	14	$3,160	1	$40
20-Apr-19	13	$13,500	10	90	9	$12,200	4	$1,300
13-Apr-19	16	$38,900	14	91	14	$37,800	2	$1,100
6-Apr-19	12	$6,870	11	94	10	$6,730	2	$50
30-Mar-19	15	$6,470	12	84	10	$7,91.5	5	$5,677
23-Mar-19	18	$6,450	14	91	14	$5,042	4	$1,408
16-Mar-19	14	$10,180	12	115	11	$8,800	3	$1,300
9-Mar-19	9	$1,800	6	49	8	$1,300	1	$500
2-Mar-19	20	$3,033	16	107	14	$1,817	6	$1,262
23-Feb-19	12	$2,040	8	69	9	$614.60	3	$1,430
16-Feb-19	16	$9,970	18	77	16	$9,970	0	0
9-Feb-19	14	$6,400	10	110	14	$6,400	0	0
2-Feb-19	18	$6,740	15	99	16	$5,720	2	$950
26-Jan-19	13	$2,770	11	67	11	$918.95	2	$1,850
19-Jan-19	15	$3,819	16	76	12	$2,594	3	$1,225
12-Jan-19	18	$7,283	14	92	15	$1,683	3	$5,600
5-Jan-19	10	$529	12	50	10	$529	0	0
22-Dec-18	17	$2,570	13	87	14	$941	3	$1,629
15-Dec-18	10	$2,860	8	26	8	$264	2	$2,600
8-Dec-18	15	$1,819	16	65	12	$552	3	$1,267
1-Dec-18	12	$7,500	10	90	9	$1,200	3	$6,200
28-Nov-18	15	$4,500	11	107	14	$4,000	1	$500
19-Nov-18	18	$6,137	13	98	13	$2,142	5	$3,995
14-Nov-18	18	$9,200	13	152	15	$8,500	3	$694
6-Nov-18	16	$17,300	16	183	14	$16,361	2	$950
29-Oct-18	14	$14,400	18	127	17	$13,800	1	$600
24-Oct-18	13	$6,140	13	126	11	$5,122	2	$1,018
17-Oct-18	18	$18,390	15	125	14	$12,292	4	$6,098
10-Oct-18	29	$3,149	18	104	20	$1,647	9	$819
2-Oct-18	18	$9,300	11	67	14	$7,300	4	$2,000
25-Sep-18	13	$7,000	11	75	10	$6,000	3	$995
18-Sep-18	9	$3,570	7	44	9	$3,570	0	0
11-Sep-18	13	$5,900	10	132	13	$5,900	0	0
7-Sep-18	14	$5,000	15	86	11	$4,000	3	$1,000
29-Aug-18	15	$20,700	14	79	13	$4,700	2	$16,000
20-Aug-18	10	$12,400	11	53	8	$11,380	3	$1,057
14-Aug-18	12	$19,900	12	132	9	$18,889	3	$1,011
7-Aug-18	16	$68,600	11	106	13	$67,259	3	$1,340
31-Jul-18	15	$15,100	15	95	11	$13,060	4	$2,060
23-Jul-18	13	$2,130	15	60	10	$1,804	3	$1,100
17-Jul-18	14	$5,370	17	98	9	$4,310	5	$1,100
9-Jul-18	16	$11,200	15	74	10	$11,080	6	$862
3-Jul-18	13	$7,000	7	81	12	$6,330	1	$750
25-Jun-18	15	$8,800	13	97	9	$4,970	6	$3,930
18-Jun-18	13	$14,200	14	80	7	$221	6	$14,290
11-Jun-18	12	$6,300	8	96	8	$5,910	4	$803
6-Jun-18	13	$14,500	10	88	8	$14,154	5	$579
31-May-18	11	$4,890	10	63	8	$3,240	3	$1,790
22-May-18	15	$20,400	11	63	9	$19,808	6	$885
15-May-18	15	$4,700	15	106	10	$3,900	5	$643
9-May-18	11	$1,400	13	88	9	$1,300	2	$560
1-May-18	8	$14,250	7	88	7	$13,400	1	$450
24-Apr-18	12	$5,300	6	61	11	$4,470	1	$800
17-Apr-18	9	$1,800	10	44	7	$2,330	2	$1,434
11-Apr-18	11	$2,500	8	32	6	$1,690	5	$809
3-Apr-18	15	$13,400	11	121	9	$12,020	6	$1,090
28-Mar-18	10	$4,000	10	92	7	$3,870	3	$215
19-Mar-18	17	$5,800	13	51	10	$590	7	$5,165
12-Mar-18	15	$3,130	11	43	11	$2,360	4	$788
6-Mar-18	19	$5,400	13	116	10	$1,530	9	$4,860
27-Feb-18	20	$6,600	13	69	14	$5,530	6	$1,030
19-Feb-18	15	$5,500	14	111	10	$3,990	6	$1,980
12-Feb-18	23	$10,900	17	157	12	$7,110	11	$3,840
5-Feb-18	16	$8,600	13	100	7	$1,330	9	$7,800
30-Jan-18	11	$12,600	11	68	5	$7,300	6	$4,982
24-Jan-18	19	$9,400	15	129	5	$2,010	14	$7,337
18-Jan-18	10	$6,280	8	49	2	$2,100	8	$4,188
9-Jan-18	12	$16,500	12	92	9	$15,890	3	$475
3-Jan-18	10	$2,500	9	47	8	$2,350	2	$150
27-Dec-17	15	$9,000	15	113	9	$7,568	6	$1,784
18-Dec-17	15	$13,800	16	164	9	$13,010	7	$1,118
11-Dec-17	14	$9,700	10	126	12	$2,940	4	$8,500
4-Dec-17	6	$1,800	6	31	5	$1,510	1	$300
28-Nov-17	7	$3,850	8	76	4	$3,260	3	$285
16-Nov-17	10	$2,700	10	48	6	$1,840	4	$856
8-Nov-17	15	$2,380	17	91	10	$1,860	5	$516
1-Nov-17	12	$4,700	17	94	9	$3,400	4	$1,300
23-Oct-17	15	$10,500	10	67	10	$9,780	4	$1,530
18-Oct-17	6	$2,000		37	3	$225	3	$1,820
10-Oct-17	12	$6,570		100	9	$3,880	3	$3,360
2-Oct-17	8	$3,100	11	19	3	$1,630	5	$1,750
25-Sep-17	8	$4,880	8	79	5	$2,660	5	$2,070
18-Sep-17	9	$4,770			3	$300	6	$4,470
12-Sep-17	11	$4,430			8	$2,030	3	$2,400
1-Sep-17	4	$1,310			3	$317	1	$1,000
23-Aug-17	11	$13,640	9		8	$11,840	3	$1,800

Still, the week meant work for 50 Texas lawyers at 10 different firms. The transactions included five deals on the M&A/Funding side worth $4.8 billion and three deals involving capital markets worth $2.1 billion.

M&A/FUNDING/VENTURE CAPITAL

Waste Management, Advanced Disposal Reboot Merger at $4.6B

Houston-based industry giant Waste Management, Inc. announced June 24 that it had agreed with Advanced Disposal Services Inc. to adjust the price of their proposed merger from $4.9 billion to $4.6 billion.

The two companies also agreed to sell an estimated $835 million in assets to a Canadian waste removal firm as part of a divestiture agreement designed to secure antitrust clearance for their massive merger from the Department of Justice.

The merger, first announced in April 2019, had been seen as a potential casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic when it failed to close as anticipated during the first quarter of 2020. As part of the new agreement, Waste Management and Advanced Disposal agreed to a new walkaway date of Sept. 30, 2020 with a pre-approved postponement to Nov. 30 if DOJ antitrust approval is still in process.

Simpson Thacher counseled Waste Management on the revised agreement, including seven lawyers from the firm’s Houston office: M&A partner Chris May and associates Jacqui Bogucki, Nate Bascom, Hunter Hampton, and Braxton Pitts (M&A), along with capital markets partner Brian Rosenzweig and associate Brian Mathes.

Vedder Price is also advising Waste Management, while Centerview Partners is its exclusive financial advisor. UBS Investment Bank is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Advanced Disposal, and Shearman & Sterling and Mayer Brown are serving as Advanced Disposal’s legal counsel.

Under terms of the new agreement, Waste Management will acquire Advanced Disposal for $30.30 per share in cash, reducing the price of the original agreement of $33.15. The $4.6 billion value of the new agreement includes the assumption of approximately $1.8 billion debt, slightly less than the estimated $1.9 billion debt assumption that was part of the original agreement.

As part of the new agreement, the companies also announced that Canada-based GFL Environmental has agreed to acquire a combination of Advanced Disposal and Waste Management assets for $835 million. At least $300 million of those assets represent anticipated divestures required for federal approval of the deal.

Waste Management is the largest solid waste company in the U.S. Advanced Disposal, based in Ponte Vedra, Florida, is the fourth largest.

V&E Advises Talos Energy on $65M Asset Acquisition

Talos Energy announced June 22 the acquisition of 16 assets from Castex Energy 2005 for a total of $65 million, including an issuance of shares and $6.5 million in cash. Though the transaction is effective April 1, closing is not expected until the third quarter.

Vinson & Elkins advised an affiliate of Houston-based Talos with a team led by partners John Grand and Lande Spottswood. The team also included counsel Tan Lu and associates Erin Mitchell and Helen Xiang. Also advising were partners Ramey Layne (corporate); Jason McIntosh and David Peck (tax); Larry Nettles and Matthew Dobbins (environmental); and Brian Moss and Guy Gribov (finance).

Intrepid Partners advised Castex Energy 2005 in the transaction.

The bulk of the $65 million bolt-on transaction price is to be paid through the issuance of approximately 4.95 million Talos Energy common shares at closing.

Talos also announced that its borrowing base has been reduced 14%, from $1.15 billion to $985 million. As of May 31, Talos had approximately $121 million in cash on hand and $650 million drawn on the $985 million borrowing base.

The newly acquired assets are familiar to Talos, an independent exploration and production company specializing in offshore properties. They include operatorship of at least 11 of fields already acquired in February, and most were originally discovered or operated by current Talos management.

The company says that it plans to hedge “a significant portion” of the volumes obtained from the new assets to secure more favorable pricing of their output. The company said the new assets generated approximately $31.2 million over the year ending March 31.

Talos president and CEO Timothy S. Duncan commented: “We are very pleased with the continuing strong support we’ve received from our bank group considering the historic dislocation in our industry in recent months.”

Kirkland Represents KKR in Acquisition of Environmental Dynamics International Inc.

XPV, a wastewater treatment platform backed by KKR and XPV Water Partners, announced June 23 that it had acquired a Missouri-based company that specializes in researching and developing waste-treatment technologies.

Nexus Water Holdings, a joint venture between KKR and XPV, acquired Environmental Dynamics International, headquartered in Columbia, Missouri. Terms were not disclosed.

Nexus Water was advised by a Kirkland & Ellis team led out of the firm’s Houston office by John Pitts and Kyle Watson. Pitching in were associates Zach Savrick and Maggie Hoffman.

Nexus Water Holdings was established last year for the acquisition of two water treatment companies, Environmental Operating Solutions, Inc. and Nexom, Inc. The new entity, EDI, will be absorbed by Nexom, headquartered in Winnipeg.

EDI specializes in aeration and biological treatment solutions for municipal and industrial wastewater in the form of diffuser aeration systems used in over 7,000 installations across 100 countries.

Vinson & Elkins Advises OJO Labs on Movoto Acquisition

Austin-based AI startup OJO Labs announced June 26 that it had not only acquired Movoto, a tech-driven interactive residential real estate site, but it had attracted $62.5 million in funding to do so.

Vinson & Elkins advised OJO Labs on the acquisition with a team led by Austin venture capital partner Wes Jones with help from Austin associates Kate Rainey Willson and Chris Kirby. Also advising were partner Todd Way, senior associate Brian Russell and associate David Gilbert (tax); partner Devika Kornbacher and senior associate Ben Cukerbaum (technology/IP); partner Shane Tucker and associate Austin Light (executive compensation/benefits); and partner Sean Becker and senior associate Alex Bluebond (labor/employment).

Founded in 2015 by John Berkowitz and David Rubin, OJO Labs specializes in the use of artificial intelligence in tech platforms for brokers, agents and loan officers. The company said the acquisition of Movoto enables OJO Labs to expand its platform with scalable personalized technology for homebuyers and sellers.

In connection with the acquisition, OJO Labs also announced that it had closed on $62.5 million in a funding round led by Wafra with participation from Breyer Capital, LiveOak Venture Partners, Royal Bank of Canada and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures.

“The way people buy and sell homes is changing,” said Jim Breyer, Founder and CEO of Breyer Capital, a former Facebook and Walmart board member. “This evolution has been expedited by recent events, and the real estate industry is on the cusp of something new in the wake of COVID-19. With a clear vision for the future and the technology to back it up, I believe OJO Labs is poised to be a leader in the next era of the home buying industry.”

Akin Gump Advises Tapstone in $65M Bid for Templar Assets

Tapstone Energy LLC, recently emergent from bankruptcy, has announced it is making a $65 million stalking horse bid for substantially all the assets of cross-town Oklahoma City producer Templar Energy.

Templar, whose assets are primarily in the Anadarko Basin, filed for Chapter 11 protection June 1. Tapstone emerged from bankruptcy in April.

Akin Gump announced June 25 that it is representing Tapstone in its bid for Templar. Leading the team are New York partner Dan Fisher, head of Akin Gump’s integrated special situations group, along with restructuring partner Sarah Schultz of Dallas.

The Templar bid caps the completion of Tapstone’s restructuring plan in which its lenders agreed to exchange secured debt for common equity and a four-year $145 million loan. In addition, nearly all (99.5%) of the company’s 9.75% 2022 senior noteholders likewise agreed to exchange their existing notes into common equity and a new four-year $5 million unsecured term loan.

Key in the Templar bid, however, was a $50 million preferred equity investment by Kennedy Lewis Investment Management ear-marked by management for acquisitions.

By wiping out $450 million of principle debt, Tapstone was left with over $60 million in liquidity and a vastly deleveraged balance sheet.

“The outcome of this process establishes Tapstone as an entity ready to consolidate assets in the Mid-Continent,” CEO Steve C. Dixon said in a written statement at the time. “We are eager to turn our focus on acquiring producing properties and evaluating merger candidates.”   

By contrast, Templar has a history of high-dollar troubles since its founding in 2012 by David Le Norman, current chairman of the Oklahoma Petroleum Alliance. Le Norman stepped down as its chairman last year.

Backed by Ares Management and Bain Capital, Templar has revealed in filings that top lenders of approximately $426 million can expect to receive no more than 21 cents on the dollar, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Just four years ago, Templar negotiated the elimination of $1.45 billion in debt as part of an out-of-court restructuring.

Beginning in February, Templar had been openly shopping its Anadarko assets, but decided to file for bankruptcy in Delaware after the market was rocked by an oil and gas price collapse. In a statement the company said it had secured DIP loans of $25 million to keep it operating.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison is advising Templar in the bankruptcy. Guggenheim Securities is acting as the Company’s investment banker, with Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC is acting as financial advisor.

CAPITAL MARKETS/RESTRUCTURING

Martin Midstream Partners Announces $323M Restructuring Support Agreement

Martin Midstream Partners announced June 26 that it had entered into a restructuring support agreement with its major noteholders, an agreement that includes the possibility of a Chapter 11 filing if an anticipated change of notes fails to take place.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is outside counsel for Martin Midstream and its subsidiaries, and Stephens Inc. is serving as the company’s financial advisor.

Skadden Arps is representing the note holders with a team from New York and Washington, D.C.

Headquartered in Kilgore, Martin Midstream Partners provides terminalling, storage and packaging for petroleum products, including land and marine transportation services on the Texas Gulf Coast. The company also manufactures specialty products sulfur-based products and fertilizer and liquid natural gas.

The agreement includes Martin Midstream’s general partner, Martin Midstream GP, as well as its subsidiaries: Martin Midstream Finance Corp., Martin Operating GP, Martin Operating Partnership LP, Redbird Gas Storage, Talen’s Marine & Fuel, and Martin Transport, Inc.

The agreement is with note holders that that beneficially own over 62% of the company’s 7.25% Unsecured Notes due 2021.

The company contemplates an out-of-court offer to exchange the existing notes for a combination of cash, 11.50% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes due 2025 and rights to acquire 10.00% Senior Secured 1.5 Lien Notes due 2024. In addition, the company will attempt to renegotiate some of the restrictive covenants in the existing notes. Aside for those changes in documentation, closing is also contingent on a tender of at least 95% of the existing notes in the exchange. If the closing doesn’t take place, the company said it will proceed to file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11.

Ruben Martin, president and CEO of Martin Midstream, said the agreement, “Demonstrates the confidence our bondholders have in our leadership team and the vision we have for the Company.” He said the transactions would increase the company’s financial flexibility.

“In these times of both macroeconomic and social challenges, we are appreciative of the support of the bondholders for our long-term success,” Martin said.