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Veteran tech dealmaker Devika Kornbacher Kornbacher comes from Clifford Chance, where she helped launch the Houston office in 2023 as managing partner and served as co-chair of the firm’s Global Tech Group. Prior to that, she was a partner at Vinson & Elkins in Houston for nearly 16 years.
For the week ended Feb. 14, the CDT Roundup saw 14 deals reported with a total value of $20.5 billion.
Aside from the prior week, last week's value of $20.5 billion is the highest recorded by the CDT since Nov. 8, when the Texas deal frenzy hit $76 billion boosted by Irving-based Kimberly-Clark's acquisition of Kenvue for $48.7 billion. That consumer products megadeal was the largest in terms of value in 2025 and the fifth-largest M&A transaction involving a Texas company or led by a Lone Star State lawyer since 2018, aside from a certain super-megadeal in early February.
Privately held Seattle freight transportation, marine service and energy distribution conglomerate Saltchuk said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Houston-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. for about $1.2 billion cash. Sidley Austin advised Great Lakes and its CLO Vivienne Schiffer, while Fried Frank represented Saltchuk.
Transocean announced Monday it has acquired Valaris Ltd. for about $5.8 billion in an all-stock transaction that creates an offshore drilling behemoth with 33 ultra-deepwater drillships, nine semisubmersibles and 31 modern jackups. Skadden advised Valaris with a team led by Eric Otness in Houston and Stephen Arcano and Max Troper in New York. Davor Vukadin is GC at Valaris, and Brady Long is Transocean's chief legal officer.
Kilpatrick added another experienced energy attorney to its Houston office. Barclay Nicholson joined the firm’s construction and infrastructure team in December after nearly four years as a founding partner of the Sheppard Mullin office in Houston. Prior to that, he spent more than 21 years as an energy and commercial litigation partner with Norton Rose Fulbright.
DLA Piper and A&O Shearman advised on the deal whose announcement triggered a run-up on Nasdaq for Silicon Labs stock.
Paul Weiss announced Tuesday that it has found the lawyers needed to open and run a new office in Houston, both from Kirkland & Ellis.
Skadden and Gibson Dunn advised the two companies on the merger, which would create one of the largest shale oil producers in the Delaware Basin. The Texas Lawbook's Jason Philyaw has the details.
For the wintry week ended Jan. 31, the CDT Roundup saw 11 deals reported with a total value of nearly $4 billion — and the bulk of that was, in essence, a preferred equity funding deal involving the federal government.
A week earlier, eight deals were reported with only three disclosed values totaling a little more than $1.3 billion. This time last year there were 16 deals worth a little more than $10 billion that passed across our desk. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
Latham and White & Case advised on the deal which includes a federal government stake in the publicly traded magnet manufacturer. USA Rare Earth operates a Rare Earth minerals mining facility in Hudspeth County in West Texas.
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