Elections mean change, and change is good, right? Maybe so, but there are concerns that a new administration might be inclined to make dramatic changes in policies regarding energy and manufacturing that have been the basis for billions in equity investments. Comments made by the president-elect shortly before the election have some worried that the seemingly uncontroversial CHIPS and Science Act could be in the crosshairs. The CDT Roundup looks at that concern and what the CHIPS Act has meant already to Texas. That and the usual roll call of last week’s transactions.
David Aaronson Moves to O’Melveny
Aaronson, a veteran of O&G transactions in the upstream and midstream sectors, departs Orrick where he landed in 2022.
CDT Roundup: 12 Deals, 11 Firms, 107 Lawyers, $52.8B
A $50 billion data center joint venture is nothing to ignore. Neither are the footnotes that occasionally accompany a monumental deal. The CDT Roundup this week looks at the big numbers that are building up around AI-driven data centers, and a few tiny cautions about what to expect of them. FYI, we didn’t ignore our usual roster of last week’s deals — even those under $50 billion.
Kirkland Advises on $1.25B Sale of EQT Marcellus Assets
The purchase follows — and completes — a swap agreement announced in April in which EQT exchanged a 40 percent interest in those same assets for Equinor’s assets in the Appalachian Basin and $500 million in cash.
Seyfarth Snags Energy Trio from Polsinelli
Partner Chris Cottrell and associates Michael Szymanski and Xiaoming Gao will launch an energy transition practice at the firm’s Houston office.
CDT Roundup: 8 Deals, 8 Firms, 65 Lawyers, $3.2B
Data from Pitchbook for the first three quarters of 2024 shows that global M&A has rebounded both in volume and value over the same period last year. The CDT Roundup parses their report and looks at how those global numbers compare with North America in general and Texas in particular. The numbers, extracted from the Corporate Deal Tracker database, surprise. That, and the usual summary of deal traffic during what proved to be an ironically light week.
Keurig Dr Pepper to Acquire Ghost Brand for $990M
Under the deal KDP will pay $990 million in cash for a 60 percent stake in Ghost Lifestyle and Ghost Beverages, with purchase of the remaining 40 percent to follow in 2028. Ghost will operate as part of KDP but will continue to be run by Ghost co-founders, Dan Lourenco and Ryan Hughes.
H.T. Flanagan Joins Kirkland & Ellis
The debt finance lawyer moves from Freshfields where he officed in New York.
CDT Roundup: 12 Deals, 11 Firms, 136 Lawyers, $5.3B
Dykema’s 20th anniversary M&A Outlook Survey is grounded in optimism, a far cry from the doom-saying that characterizes these final days of the presidential race. The survey, taken between late July and early August suggests that M&A may well thrive between now and mid-2025. The CDT Roundup takes a look at the apparent reasoning behind such optimism, along with the usual list of Texas-related transactions reported last week.
Of 3,299 State Bar Examinees, Here’s the Top 3
Scores on the state’s bar exam are confidential. Statistics are not. This much we know from the Board of Law Examiners: of 3,299 individuals who took the latest exam back in July, 74.5 percent of them passed. But courtesy of Texas Supreme Court Justice Brett Busby, the court’s liaison to the BLE, we do know the names of the top three examinees.