Jason Philyaw

Huntington Expands in Texas and Across the South with Purchase of Cadence Bank for $7.4B

Another week means another bank consolidation in Texas. Huntington Bancshares said Monday that it is acquiring Cadence Bank in a stock swap valued at about $7.4 billion. Cadence — with dual headquarters in Houston and Tupelo, Miss. — has more than 390 locations across Texas and the South.

Wachtell and Sullivan & Cromwell advised on the deal. Cadence's Houston-based chief legal officer is Shanna Kuzdzal, who replaced the bank's longtime in-house leader Chuck Pignuolo in 2023 when he retired.

October 27, 2025 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: Blackstone, TPG, Meta, Blue Owl Dominate a $61B Week

Some weeks are heavy on volume. Some weeks are heavy on value. This week was a whopper in both counts: 19 transactions valued at more than $61 billion, including 18 in the M&A/Fundings column. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

October 26, 2025 Jason Philyaw

National Fuel Buys CenterPoint Ohio Natural Gas Operations for $2.62B

Texas lawyers from Jones Day and Gibson Dunn advised the parties in CenterPoint's sale of a local distribution network that consumes 60 billion cf of natural gas each year.

October 21, 2025 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: A $40B Data Center Deal Leads a 14-Deal Week

In a $40 billion deal a Blackrock-led consortium of major AI players acquired Plano-based Aligned Data Centers in one of the largest data infrastructure to date. It was one of 14 deals valued at $46.6 billion dollars reported to the Roundup last week. Even so, it was only the seventh-largest Texas-related deal of 2025. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

October 19, 2025 Jason Philyaw

CMC Acquires Foley Products for $1.84B

Commercial Metals Co. said Thursday that it agreed to acquire Foley Products Co. for $1.84 billion in cash. Based outside Atlanta, Foley provides precast concrete and pipe products primarily in the Southeast, operating 18 facilities in nine states. The company’s products are used in drainage, water management, dry utility, and road construction across residential, non-residential and infrastructure sectors. 

October 16, 2025 Jason Philyaw

BlackRock-Led AI Group Strikes Deal for Aligned Data Centers

The Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership — the consortium founded about a year ago by BlackRock, Abu Dhabi-based MGX, Microsoft and NVIDIA to expand capacity of AI infrastructure — announced on Oct. 15 the acquisition of Aligned Data Centers from funds managed by Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management.

The companies said the deal, which values Plano-based Aligned Data Centers at $40 billion, will fuel the expansion of next-generation cloud and AI infrastructure.

Sterlington, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis advised on the deal.

October 15, 2025 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: A Bank Merger Leads the Way

The week that ended Oct. 11 saw 14 deals reported with a total value of $17.4 billion, nearly two-thirds of which was attributable to Fifth Third Bancorp acquiring Comerica in a stock swap valued at $10.9 billion. It was a bit of a drop-off from the 21 deals valued at $20.8 billion for the week prior and less in volume but better in value than the 22 deals valued at $8.4 billion this time last year.

That and more in this week's CDT Roundup.

October 12, 2025 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: From Solar to Chemicals to LNG, Energy Powers $20.8B Week

The week that ended Oct. 4 saw 21 deals reported with a total value of $20.8 billion with a few billion-dollar transactions, including one that may be the final deal for the Oracle of Omaha. Elsewhere, Texas bank consolidations continue as Prosperity Bank acquires Texas Partners to expand further into San Antonio, Austin and The Hill Country.

That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

October 5, 2025 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: Sempra Deals Lead Another $22.8B Week

The week ending Sept. 27 had 16 deals reported with an overall value of nearly $22.8 billion led by $17 billion in in just two transactions by one of the largest utility builders in North America.

September 28, 2025 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: A Week of Power Plants, Energy Infrastructure and Another Crypto CapM Deal

The week that ended Sept. 20 saw 24 deals with a reported value of $11.3 billion. There were a lot of deals this week related to energy, infrastructure or AI, or some combination of the three. The largest deals of the week included, perhaps unsurprisingly, a few of the largest players: with San Antonio’s electric utility buying four natural gas plants for $1.4 billion and Blackstone buying a huge natural gas plant in southwest Pennsylvania for $1 billion, give or take a few million or so. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

September 21, 2025 Jason Philyaw