Texas IPO Activity 2017-18: The Return of Oilfield Services and the Rise of the SPAC

By Ramey Layne of Vinson & Elkins (Aug. 6) – In 2017 and the first half of 2018, 32 IPOs of Texas headquartered companies were completed, raising approximately $9.7 billion

August 6, 2018 Mark Curriden

Mergermarket: Top 30 M&A Deals of H1 2018

(Aug. 3) – In the first half of 2018, the top 30 M&A transactions involving Texas-headquartered companies were pretty big deals. That’s not a big surprise. The surprise is how

August 3, 2018 Claire Poole

ETE To Acquire ETP in Blockbuster $62B Transaction

It is one of the largest simplification transactions in the oil and gas midstream industry.

August 2, 2018 Claire Poole

CDT Weekly Roundup: 13 Firms, 95 Lawyers, 15 Deals Worth $15.1B

Deal activity this past week came close to the 2018 record. Helped along by BHP Billiton’s massive sale of its U.S. shale assets to BP and Merit Energy for $10.8 billion, the deal activity reached $15.1 billion.

July 31, 2018 Claire Poole

Four different law firms advise on two energy-related infrastructure deals worth $2.3B

Texas lawyers from four different law firms were involved in two energy infrastructure-related deals announced Monday that together amounted to nearly $2.3 billion.

July 30, 2018 Claire Poole

M&A H1 Rankings: Shake Outs At The Top

Even for a 2018 characterized by shake-ups – firm mergers, office openings, lateral raids – the changes at the top of the first-half M&A legal advisor charts are remarkable. V&E dropped. Kirkland ascended. And two national firms with no presence in Texas took the top deal value spots.

July 27, 2018 Claire Poole

Oil Patch Busts Out With $12.8B Pair Of Deals Involving Seven Texas Law Firms

Australian mining giant BHP Billiton announced it sold its U.S. shale properties for $10.8 billion in cash. The buyers were BP, which picked up BHP’s Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Permian properties under unit Petrohawk Energy for $10.5 billion; and Merit Energy, whose unit MMGJ Hugoton III agreed to acquire BHP’s Fayetteville Shale assets for $300 million.

July 27, 2018 Claire Poole

2018: So Far, So Good; But Why Only ‘Good’?

January 2018 was greeted by stable energy markets, pent-up private equity and a spanking new investor-friendly tax law. That sounds like the elements of a record year, right?

July 25, 2018 Claire Poole

CDT Weekly Roundup: 15 Firms, 60 Lawyers, 13 Deals Worth $2.13B

Deal activity among Texas lawyers last week was dominated by transactions in the energy sector, from exploration and production assets changing hands to the continued consolidation of the oilfield services industry.

July 23, 2018 Claire Poole

Corporate Lawyers Lateral = Billions of Dollars of Legal Work on the Move

When star Houston corporate lawyer Sean Wheeler moved his law practice to Kirkland & Ellis last week, he likely took his book of business with him. During the past 18 months, Wheeler led or co-led 29 M&A and capital markets deals worth a combined $14.3 billion. A Texas Lawbook investigative report found that at least 84 prominent dealmaking lawyers in Texas jumped to new law firms since Jan. 1, 2017. Those lawyers handled hundreds of deals valued at nearly $200 billion, according to the Corporate Deal Tracker. The Texas Lawbook has exclusive details.

July 19, 2018 Claire Poole

CDT Weekly Roundup: 14 Deals Worth $5.37B at a Time of $1.09T in Private Equity Money Out There Looking for a Home

There’s a whole lot of private equity money out there. At the end of June, according to data from Preqin, alternative investment firms worldwide had $1.8 trillion in “dry powder.” All that available cash has slowed down capital raisings in the first half of this year. But investment activity continues, a chunk of it creating work for transactional lawyers in

July 17, 2018 Claire Poole

U.S. Oil & Gas Acquisition Activity Falters in Q2 – But Maybe Not For Long

Oil and gas M&A transactions in the U.S. dropped in the second quarter, well below quarterly averages experienced since 2009, even as global activity blossomed. The reasons may, in part, be structural; but they also may be temporary, according to Drillinginfo. Claire Poole explains in The Texas Lawbook.

July 11, 2018 Claire Poole