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Minnesota-based Ecolab has agreed to acquire CoolIT Systems, a Calgary-based provider of liquid cooling technologies for AI and high-performance computing, from investment firm KKR for about $4.75 billion cash.
Kirkland & Ellis advised KKR and CoolIT, while Covington & Burling advised Ecolab.
In an early validation of one of the major changes in the Texas Business Organizations Code, a federal judge last week dismissed a derivative stockholder lawsuit aimed at foiling a high-profile policy change at Southwest Airlines.
For the week ended March 21, the CDT Roundup saw 11 deals with a total reported value of about $7.5 billion, mostly attributable to Constellation Energy shedding some PJM assets to LS Power for $5 billion. A Houston energy services company leaped up in the supply chain, acquiring an Irving energy company and 30 turbine delivery slots; a U.K. hyperscaler bought a power company in order to build one of the world's largest AI factories in West Virginia; two blank check companies issued IPOs in search of "disruptive technology companies" and "robotics, electric vehicles, drones, unmanned aerial systems and fintech" firms. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
On March 17, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas dismissed Gusinsky v. Reynolds, applying and upholding the reforms to the Texas Business Organizations Code introduced in 2025 by Senate Bill 29. The opinion confirms that the Texas legal reforms associated with Y’all Street are working and should help corporations and their boards feel confident that these new statutory tools will withstand judicial scrutiny.
Kirkland, White & Case and Willkie advised on the divestitures which were part of an agreement last year in connection with Constellation's $26 billion acquisition of Calpine Energy.
For the week ended March 14, the CDT Roundup saw 13 deals reported — same as the week prior and the same as this time last year. The reported values were different, ranging from $5.9 billion last week, down from $48.1 billion during the prior week and $13.7 billion last year. The bump in value in our last report derived from BlackRock's $33 billion take-private deal of AES. There was nothing of that magnitude this week.
There was, however, plenty of energy represented.
ExxonMobil announced Tuesday that its board seeks shareholder approval to change the company’s legal permanent home to Texas from New Jersey.
Gibson Dunn advised the company with a team led by Houston partners Gerry Spedale, Hillary Holmes and Tull Florey, as well as Washington, D.C., partner Ronald Mueller. Jeff Taylor is Exxon's general counsel.
Pennzoil Quaker State, the lubricants business of Shell USA, announced Monday an agreement to sell Jiffy Lube International to an affiliate of middle-market private equity firm Monomoy Capital Partners for $1.3 billion. Kirkland & Ellis provided counsel to Monomoy. Travis Torrence is head of legal for Shell USA.
The rapid expansion of AI is creating a “super cycle” in data centers, combining headline megadeals with a powerful but less visible middle‑market M&A surge in specialized infrastructure and services. Investors are racing to build and acquire hyperscale facilities, while private equity sponsors increasingly target mission‑critical providers in areas such as cooling, electrical, HVAC, plumbing and more to keep data centers humming around the clock. Legal advisors and their financial counterparts report increasingly sophisticated deal structures (and widely available capital) to support expansion and acquisitions.
For the week ended March 7, the CDT Roundup saw 13 deals with a total reported value of about $48.1 billion. Thanks to a $33.4 billion take-private deal for yet another power provider, that's better than the 11-deal $7.3 billion clocked the week prior. And it's far better than the seven-deal $2.2 billion week reported this time last year. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
Paul Weiss is adding an energy infrastructure partner to its new Houston office as Jennifer Gasser joins the Wall Street firm’s M&A Group within the Corporate Department.
Gasser comes to the growing Paul Weiss Houston office from Kirkland & Ellis. She advises private equity sponsors and public companies in the energy and infrastructure industries on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures.
Chicago tech investment firm Thoma Bravo said Tuesday that it agreed to acquire WWEX Group, a parcel and freight services logistics provider headquartered in Dallas. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Bloomberg reports that the deal values WWEX at $5 billion.
Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins advised on the deal.
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