Baker Botts, Vinson & Elkins Advise on QEP Transaction That Was in Doubt
Some thought QEP’s $740 million divestiture deal might not happen. But lawyers in Dallas, Houston and Austin saw it through. Details are in The Texas Lawbook.
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Some thought QEP’s $740 million divestiture deal might not happen. But lawyers in Dallas, Houston and Austin saw it through. Details are in The Texas Lawbook.

The Texas Lawbook has exclusive new Mergermarket M&A data on the law firms doing the most deals for Texas companies during the first half of 2017. Twenty-three of the top 30 law firms advised on more transactions than they did one year earlier. Four law firms did fewer deals than they did in H1 2016. Eight firms doubled the number of transactions they handled and 21 of the 30 firms doing the most deals are based outside of Texas. The Lawbook has all the details.

Houston-based American Midstream Partners said Monday that it will sell its propane marketing and services business to Netherlands-based SHV Energy NV for $170 million in cash.

A cluster of Houston-based lawyers from Baker Botts and Locke Lord said Friday that they closed Quanta Services’ $450 million acquisition of Stronghold Specialty, a La Porte-based services provider for clients in the refining and petrochemical industries.

Several Texas attorneys were involved in the big utility merger announced late Wednesday in which Canada’s Hydro One Ltd. is acquiring Avista Corp. of Spokane, Wash., for $5.3 billion. The Lawbook has the details on legal teams and an analyst's outlook on the deal going through.

New York-based TPG RE Finance Trust, a REIT (real estate investment trust), said Monday evening that it priced its IPO at $220 million. The company is offering 11 million shares of common stock at $20 per share. It began trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker, “TRTX.”

Under the agreement, Select will issue 37.95 million shares of common stock in exchange for all outstanding shares of Rockwater common stock. The Texas Lawbook has the details on the deal teams, the firms' history with the companies, and info on both GCs here.

The Texas market has seen 15 consecutive quarters with about 200 or more deals. "Before the third quarter of 2013, 200 deals was the high water mark. Since then, 200 deals has been the floor," says Mergermarket M&A analyst Chad Watt. “We’ve had so many deals completed [during the past couple years] that the market may need a period to digest it all. “There’s a real danger of developing M&A congestion or heartburn.”
How will M&A activity shape up in the second half of the year? The Texas Lawbook interviewed nearly a dozen of the leading corporate and private equity lawyers in the state to gauge their view on the M&A market for the first half of 2017 and what they forecast for the remainder of the year. This is their analysis.

Merger and acquisition activity among Texas-based businesses remained healthy during the first half of 2017, but far from the exuberant pace of dealmaking in 2014. Deal count has been flat, but deal value is up significantly over 2016, fueled by steady oil and gas M&A and Whole Foods' sale to Amazon. The Texas Lawbook has the exclusive data from Mergermarket, along with a list of the 30 biggest deals during the first six months of 2017.

Dallas-based Lone Star Funds said Thursday that it will purchase Esmalglass, a supplier of intermediate products for the ceramic industry, to Bahrain-based Investcorp for 605 million euros ($693 million).
Respected energy M&A journalist Claire Poole is joining The Texas Lawbook team as a contributing correspondent in Houston covering corporate transactions and the legal profession. Claire spent 16 years at The Deal covering M&A, private equity and securities offerings in the oil patch. We are honored to have her join our team.
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