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Prominent legal and investigative journalist Allen Pusey is a senior editor and writer at The Texas Lawbook.
Prior to joining The Lawbook, Pusey was the editor and publisher of the ABA Journal, which is the nation’s largest circulation legal publication. Before his decade with the Journal, Pusey spent 26 years as a reporter and editor at The Dallas Morning News, where he was a special projects editor and covered the Supreme Court of the United States.
A former director at the Center for Public Integrity, Pusey brings extraordinary experience and knowledge of the legal industry to The Texas Lawbook. Our readers are now the beneficiaries of his amazing talent as a writer and editor.
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For the week ending June 28, there were a dozen deals valued at nearly $7.8 billion: six in M&A and funding; six in capital markets and credit. But rather than compare that with last week's 16 deals for $6 billion or the 14 deals for $6.3 billion this time last year, let's compare these deals with each other. All in all, it was a curiously complicated week.
Kirkland and Akin advised on the combination of two Houston distributors of infrastructure machinery and supplies to create a $3 billion company with 350 service and distribution centers across 20 energy-producing countries.
The energy-focused corporate securities partner leaves Latham & Watkins where he was a frequent contributor on some of Latham's largest transactions.
Vinson & Elkins said Monday they've added two Kirkland & Ellis partners to their New York and Austin offices in Samuel Francis and Reed Schuster, both of whom specialize in organization, governance and regulatory compliance issues. V&E also announced a return to the firm by finance partner Caitlin Lawrence after a nine-year sojourn at Baker Botts.
For the week ending June 21 — and for this, our 25th weekly report of 2025 — there were 16 deals submitted for a total reported value at just under $6 billion (or $5.984 billion for the more exacting). On the year that's slightly above average in volume (14.9 deals per week for the first 24 weeks), and well below the average for reported value ($13.2 billion per week for those same 24). We take nothing from that except to note that this most recent week was far better than the week prior, which recorded nine deals for $478 million, and stands remarkably similar to the 12 deals for $5.6 billion recorded at the summer solstice last year. But if you're looking for something unusual — which is kinda our job here — the CDT Roundup has you covered.
Advised by Vinson & Elkins, Plains AA described the deal as a "win-win" transaction for both sides — an attractive cash-out for Plains and the acquisition of strategic Canadian assets by a Canadian company.
After five weeks in a row logging transactions valued at $20 billion or more, deal values finally hit the wall. Of course, part of the reason is that all of the M&A and funding deals involved private equity firms, deals whose terms are often undisclosed. Still, there were only six transactions reported. But the deals that were reported were not without importance.
With the hiring of the former White & Case partner, Paul Hastings has tripled its presence in Texas since January 2024; and the firm's chair, Frank Lopez, tells The Lawbook he is confident that the firm's Texas head count will soon top 100.
Baker McKenzie and K&L Gates advised on the transaction, the second in a week involving Baker Hughes. The Houston-based company is in the process of divesting or streamlining its involvement in non-core businesses.
Yes, the streak is still alive: for five weeks in a row transactions have totaled more than $20 billion. The menu of deals reported last week was heavy on power and energy entrees. There was a $19 billion merger of fluid motion control products. A simpler $4 billion upstream deal. A midstream JV buyout. Another JV formed. And a whole new energy E&P funded with some familiar faces. A deal for emergency power grid infrastructure services. And another for a power plant rehab firm. But there were also some interesting side dishes.
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