© 2012 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden, JD
Senior Writer for The Texas Lawbook
The number of corporate mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures involving Texas companies dropped 16 percent in the third quarter of 2012, according to statistics released by mergermarket, an independent M&A media service.
There were 91 deals valued at $35.5 billion during the past three months in Texas, compared to 108 deals valued at $37.3 billion during the second quarter of the year, mergermarket reports.
Despite the decline, mergermarket says that Texas remains one of the more active M&A markets in the country thanks to energy and technology. There have been 279 deals valued at $93 billion announced by Texas businesses during the first nine of 2012, which is up from the 265 deals worth $84 billion during the same time period in 2011.
The mergermarket report states that a widening mix of energy deals continued to lead the pack of mergers and acquisition activity in Texas in the third quarter of 2012. Energy businesses in Texas struck deals valued at more than $1 billion in the pipeline, offshore oil, energy services, onshore oil and power generation sectors of the energy business during the quarter.
“Rapid growth and change in the energy industry has major players in all facets of the sector employing acquisitions as part of their growth strategies,” said Chad Watt, an analyst for mergermarket in Texas. “I expect we will see some more megadeals in the energy space as majors look to take a larger role in the onshore US oil and gas boom, and Gulf of Mexico drilling regains momentum.”
The state’s two most prominent M&A law firms – Baker Botts and Vinson & Elkins – led the way with 13 corporate deals each during the third quarter. Fulbright & Jaworski, Latham & Watkins and Jones Day each handled a dozen major transactions.
“M&A activity in Texas and throughout the energy industry should remain strong through the rest of this year and into 2013,” said David Kirkland, chair of Baker Botts’ Corporate Practice. “A number of companies continue to look for businesses that will add value as they seek to position themselves for changes that may affect the sector over the next few years.”
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