If you’ve been paying attention to M&A numbers in recent weeks, you already know this: compared to last year, the first half of 2019 has been lackluster. Deal count is down. Deal values are down. “Exceedingly cautious,” is the way one lawyer describes the market. Claire Poole bears the bad news from our exclusive Mergermarket data.
CDT Roundup: 10 Deals, 7 Firms, 46 Lawyers, $775.5M
Deal activity involving Texas lawyers continued to be weak this past week – and way weaker than this time last year, which doesn’t portend a great second half of the year. Claire Poole has the numbers.
Callon-Carrizo: It’s All About Relationships
Baker Botts had done work for Carrizo Oil & Gas for 22 years. Kirkland had been developing a relationship with Callon Petroleum management for the last several years. In the end, the two law firms helped put together a combination of the two companies that one analyst says will join an elite group that can achieve double-digit production growth while generating meaningful free cash flow.
Kirkland, Baker Botts Aid on $3.2B Callon-Carrizo Hookup
Callon’s purchase of Carrizo is the latest in a wave of consolidation among oil and gas producers operating in the Permian Basin. But one analyst thinks there could be some investor pushback as many viewed Callon as more of a seller than a buyer.
Former V&E Lawyer Appointed GC of EQT After Activists Win Proxy Fight
Houston attorney Will Jordan was appointed general counsel of Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp. after the Rice brothers took control of the company in a bitter proxy fight.
CDT Roundup: 7 Deals, 9 Firms, 85 Lawyers, $2.5B
Almost 4,000 PE funds are now competing in a congested market for money-raising and PE-backed buyouts are down in number and value for the second quarter, according to Preqin. In her weekly roundup, Claire Poole has the major deals last week involving Texas lawyers and stats that describe an increasingly circumspect market for M&A.
Drillinginfo: O&G M&A Rebounded in Q2
M&A in the oil and gas sector reached $65 billion in the second quarter. Even though $57 billion of that was the Occidental purchase of Anadarko, the remaining $7.6 billion was four times the $2 billion logged in the first quarter. The bad news: it’s still far lower than the $19 billion quarterly averages just a few years ago. Claire Poole clarifies.
CDT Roundup: 23 Deals, 15 Firms, 154 Lawyers, $8.29B
It’s S-L-O-W out there in the global M&A market. Deal value reached $842 billion in the second quarter. But that’s down 27% from last year. Deal count is the lowest since 2008. Dealmakers have the jitters. And yet…The first half was the third strongest on record. And U.S. dealmaking hit its first $1 trillion half. Claire Poole deciphers these seeming contradictions in her weekly Roundup, and balances out the week that was.
Orrick Partner Becomes GC of ROX Financial
Orrick partner David Ronn is moving in-house, becoming general counsel of a company that plans to create exchange-traded securities that will allow investment in single-property real estate.
Baker Botts, V&E Advising on Sunnova’s Planned $1B IPO
Baker Botts and Vinson & Elkins are the law firms of record for Sunnova Energy International’s initial public offering, which is providing a glimmer of hope in an otherwise barren environment for energy issues.
