Plains All American to Acquire 55% of EPIC Pipeline for $1.57B
Latham, V&E and Akin advised on the deal which will see Diamondback and Kinetik Energy exit their ownership stake in the strategic 800-mile crude oil pipeline.
Dallas PE Partner Boomerangs Back to Weil
Dallas private equity veteran Nate Christensen has rejoined Weil as a partner, strengthening the firm's dealmaking expertise in sectors including energy, infrastructure and real estate. With over 20 years of experience, Christensen is the 15th partner nationwide to return to Weil since early 2023, following his roles at Norton Rose Fulbright, Foley & Lardner, HN Capital Partners and Hunt Consolidated. The arrival follows other strategic lateral hires in Texas for the firm and Christensen chatted with The Texas Lawbook about the move, the market and more.
CDT Roundup: Big Start, Quiet Finish For Deal Week Going into Holiday
The week ending Aug. 30 saw 10 deals with a reported value of $6.6 billion. That's a significant drop from the prior week's 23 deals for $15.2 billion. We could write that off as a holiday week problem, but last year at this time, we saw 13 deals for $20.6 billion. The week began strong enough with the announcement of a $3.1 billion acquisition in the Permian and AT&T's $23 billion licensing agreement with EchoStar, but M&A simply dwindled over the rest of the week. That and more in this week's CDT Roundup.
Dynamic Energy Deal Duo: Catching up with Skadden’s Emery Choi and Mingda Zhao
Skadden’s Houston M&A group recently welcomed veteran oil and gas partners Emery Choi and Mingda Zhao, reuniting them with prominent Texas dealmaker Steve Gill. Together, Choi and Zhao bring years of experience steering energy sector clients through high-stakes M&A, joint ventures and cross-border investments. Their record includes leading transactions such as billion-dollar-plus deals for Continental Resources, Marathon Oil and Occidental Petroleum. The duo recently shared with The Texas Lawbook their insights on today’s energy M&A landscape, shifting capital trends and the evolving deal dynamics shaping the current market.
Holland & Knight Hires Another Longtime King & Spalding Healthcare Veteran
Holland & Knight has bolstered its healthcare transactions practice with the addition of Christina McNamara, a veteran attorney who spent 17 years at King & Spalding in Houston. Known for her experience advising hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and clinical labs, McNamara strengthens the firm’s growing healthcare and life sciences group. Her hiring follows the recent arrival of fellow King & Spalding healthcare alum Juliet McBride, underscoring the firm’s Texas expansion in serving the sector.
Barnes & Thornburg Adds PE Hire in Dallas
Barnes & Thornburg has expanded its Dallas office by hiring Jeff Connor as counsel, tapping his expertise in investment management, private equity and compliance. Indiana’s largest law firm with 23 offices nationwide, Barnes & Thornburg entered the Texas market in 2015.
Harvest Midstream Strikes $1B Deal for MPLX Gas Assets in Rockies
Harvest Midstream is making a $1 billion bet on the Rockies, agreeing to acquire natural gas gathering and processing assets from Ohio-based MPLX. The deal expands Houston-based Harvest’s footprint in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado with 1,500 miles of pipelines and 845 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity, underscoring the private midstream company’s push for scale in natural gas. A Texas team from Kirkland & Ellis advised Harvest on the transaction.
AT&T to Acquire EchoStar Wireless Licenses for $23B
The deal helps resolve regulatory pressures on EchoStar to use or lose federal licensing in the mid-band and low-band spectrum. The deal was handled in-house for AT&T with help from Sullivan & Cromwell and Arnold & Porter.
Crescent Energy to Acquire Permian Rival Vital Energy for $3.1B
V&E, Kirkland and Gibson Dunn were among the advisors on the deal which secures a spot for Crescent among the top ten independent oil and gas producers in the region.
Keurig Dr Pepper Turns to Paul Weiss to Lead $18.4B Deal for JDE Peet’s
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison served as lead counsel for Keurig Dr Pepper in its landmark $18.4 billion acquisition of Dutch coffee giant JDE Peet’s, alongside the in-house lawyers of KDP's team. Paul Weiss continues to be a central legal adviser in high-profile Texas transactions, even as it eyes its first office in the state. A&O Shearman advised JDE Peet's.
CDT Roundup: Data Centers, AI Hunters and HVAC Companies Fuel PE Activity
The week ending Aug. 23 saw 23 deals for just over $15.2 billion. The deals included three transactions — in media, oil and gas and electrical services — which together accounted for $13.6 billion, amounting to 90 percent of the total. But the week saw a slurry of PE transactions, most of them in the electrical, HVAC or data services sectors and they involved a broad variety of interesting businesses. That and more in this week's CDT Roundup.
Blackstone to Buy Irving Electrical Services Company for $1.6B
The deal for Shermco, advised by Vinson & Elkins and Kirkland & Ellis, is the latest in a slew of electric power, HVAC and water services acquisitions aimed at data center infrastructure support.
