White & Case Adds Houston M&A Partner
Gabriel Salinas, a mergers and acquisitions partner, has joined White & Case in Houston from Mayer Brown, where he was a partner in the Global Energy group.
AI After the Strikes: What Texas Lawyers Need to Know About Digital Replica Clauses
Following the post-strike AI provisions negotiated by SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America, the entertainment industry is entering a new phase of grappling with artificial intelligence. Performers and writers demanded meaningful limits on the use of AI to replicate their voices, likenesses and performances and now the burden shifts to lawyers to operationalize them with clarity and foresight. Updating contract templates to include boilerplate AI clauses is the easy part; the real challenge is drafting for a technology that is moving faster than the law can keep up with.
BlackRock Unit and Others Taking AES Corp. Private for $15/Share Cash
AES Corp. has agreed to be acquired by a consortium that includes a BlackRock unit, Swedish investor EQT Group, CalPERS and the Qatar Investment Authority for $15 a share cash. The companies said the offer represents a 40 percent premium to AES Corp.'s 30-day average stock price prior to July 8 when the deal was first announced.
Kirkland, Skadden, Davis Polk and Simpson Thacher advised on the deal.
CECO Environmental, Thermon Group Merge in $2.2B Cash, Stock Deal
CECO Environmental Corp. and Thermon Group Holdings announced an agreement to merge in a stock and cash transaction valued at about $2.2 billion.
Gibson Dunn and Sidley advised on the deal.
Dallas-based Home Health and Hospice Care Provider Enhabit Going Private
Dallas-based Enhabit Inc. announced Monday that it agreed to be acquired by Kinderhook Industries, a middle market private equity firm, in a cash deal with a disclosed enterprise value of about $1.1 billion.
Jones Day and Kirkland & Ellis advised on the deal.
Ovintiv Exits Anadarko with $3B Sale of Assets
Latham and Kirkland advised on the deal, which helps pay down Ovintiv's debt from two recent purchases in Canada's Montney Shale, as well as their considerable holdings in the Permian Basin.
Portland General Electric Acquires 3 Electric Plants in Washington for $1.9B
The acquisitions include one natural gas powered plant and two wind-driven generation facilities. The company said it signed contracts with data centers in late 2025 and early 2026 for 430MW of generated power. Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher advised the parties.
Tariff to Trillion: Texas Deal Lawyers Had a Blockbuster Year (and Hardly Saw It Coming)
It didn't feel like it at the time, but 2025 turned out to be a blockbuster year for M&A lawyers in Texas. The Lone Star State may no longer be matching national trends in M&A; it could be surpassing them. A good year elsewhere was a great year in Texas, regardless of the small print. Put simply, there were more deals made for more money (lots more) than we anticipated, and The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker has the exclusive details.
