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An animated bouncing ball may be needed to follow the transactions market these days. M&A for the first quarter is down worldwide 23 percent by volume over last year, while deals over $10 billion are up twice that. More on those trends in the weekly CDT Roundup, along with a relatively slim roster of Texas dealmakers reporting last week.
In a week of relatively weak M&A traffic, the increased prominence of healthcare deals is, once again, front and center. The deals these days are not just for healthcare technologies or hospital real estate — the M&A market for professional care itself is becoming abundantly clear. That, and the week's dealmakers in the CDT Roundup.
Something paradoxical happened to Texas energy deals in 2020 and 2021: They increased their share of the overall M&A market. This comes after a pandemic and a couple of notable energy disasters. But numbers aren't always exactly what they seem. The CDT Roundup explores the anomaly along with the weekly roll call of Texas transactions.
Capital markets deals in Texas were up — way up. The value of those deals were down — way down. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, say our lawyer/dealmakers. Reduced capital budgets, acquisitions made with a clearer sense of purpose and a broader base of issuers created a market in which IPOs made their comeback — and SPACs made their presence felt.
With clients Tailwater Capital and Montage cranking up deals already this year, 2022 has started with a bang for Kirkland & Ellis partner Kevin Crews. Crews shared with The Roundup some of his early observations on the broader range of deals he's seeing in the new year, as well as his views on the surprising and continuing rebound for IPOs. That, and our weekly rundown of deals handled by Texas lawyers in the CDT Roundup.
Online gaming, along with outright gambling, is gaining traction in M&A. As the lines between fantasy sports, sports books, remote gaming and casino-based gambling blur, the deals, whether domestic or international, are getting bigger and more involved, even for Texas lawyers. More on that, along with the weekly roll call of Texas-related deals in the CDT Roundup.
Germany announced this week that it is halting certification of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia. Germany is Russia's largest European market for their gas, so the move is not insignificant. But the move could have even broader significance for the new Texas alternative to alternative energy: LNG. The CDT Roundup explains, along with its weekly roll call of lawyers involved in what was the year's best week thus far in M&A.
According to a report by Bain, the consulting firm, healthcare M&A was up by 16% in 2021 by volume but also up by 44% in value. The same can be said in Texas where healthcare deals proved both plentiful and interesting. More on that and the transactions reported last week in this latest CDT Roundup.
Texas M&A staged a comeback year in 2021 with some astonishing deal numbers. But behind those numbers lies some interesting changes in the business sectors that both gained and changed. Some are obvious, like healthcare and infrastructure; but some are not so obvious, like food. The CDT Roundup looks at some of those numbers and, in particular, one food deal that typifies several ways in which the food sector is changing, along with last week's dealmaking and the firms involved.
Texas M&A boomed in Texas in 2021 — in value, in deal count and in ways that bode well for 2022. According to exclusive data from The Texas Lawbook's Corporate Deal Tracker, each month of 2021 outperformed 2020 year-over-year. There were more deals at basically every level — for $1 million or $1 billion or beyond. Whether in energy or healthcare, construction or infrastructure, technology or transportation, it was a year that rebounded from the pandemic beyond the most optimistic expectations. The Lawbook has the numbers, the tables and the views of deal lawyers across the state of what was, from virtually any perspective, a very remarkable year.
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