Hearst Adds Another Texas Newspaper to its Portfolio
Gannett announced Wednesday that it agreed to sell the Austin American-Statesman to media conglomerate Hearst, the owner of the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News.
Diamondback Energy Acquires Subsidiaries from Double Eagle for $4.1B
The cash and stock deal, advised by Kirkland & Ellis and Vinson & Elkins, comes a little more than a year after Diamondback's $26 billion merger with Endeavor Energy. It involves about 40 thousand acres near or adjacent to Diamondback's core holdings in the Permian.
M&A Newsmaker: Sidley’s Sara Garcia Duran Closes Deals and Opens Doors
Sara Garcia Duran never considered becoming a lawyer until she was asked to make a decision while on a student trip in high school. She thought about being a politician, but that option didn't sound terribly appealing. “I’ll go join the lawyers,” Duran said.
The M&A-focused partner at Sidley is pleased with her choice. Duran recently gave The Texas Lawbook an in-depth look into her journey and her experience as a woman working as a Texas dealmaker.
CDT Roundup: 12 Deals, 13 Firms, 134 Lawyers, $12.1B
The phrase "Drill, Baby, Drill," may be short code for the new administration's energy policy, but according to a recent analysis by S&P Global, don't expect the slogan to characterize the short-term CapX plans for major O&G producers. Stalled by stubborn market prices, fossil fuel production by the world's largest energy producer has plateaued for the moment, a situation that is likely to characterize all of 2025. The CDT Roundup takes a look at the numbers for the U.S. and Texas, as well as the usual summary of Texas-driven transactions reported last week.
Latham’s Gamechanging 15 Years in Texas: How The Firm’s Houston Office Wrote the Playbook for National Firms to Storm the State
The Houston office of Latham & Watkins had not been open for a year when Ryan Maierson experienced a significant realization. The office opened in February 2010, and as the year progressed, he and the other partners at Baker Botts began to marvel at how easily this "non-native" firm from Los Angeles integrated itself into Texas's established transactional law environment.
Other national firms had previously entered the Texas market. However, with Latham — the second most profitable law firm in the world — something felt different. In less than a year, Latham had achieved what no other national firm had managed to do: it instilled a sense of fear in the long-established Texas firms that had previously dominated corporate law in the Lone Star State.
Fifteen years later, this is the story of how Latham changed the game in Texas.
Exclusive Q&A: Why Houston M&A Powerhouse Stephen Gill Chose Skadden
When veteran Houston M&A lawyer Stephen Gill moved to Skadden last month, it was a seismic move on a national scale in terms of hiring skilled dealmaking talent. In this exclusive Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Gill took some time to talk about trends, why the time was right to make the move to Skadden and more.
Exclusive CDT Data — Kirkland, Gibson, V&E, Haynes Boone and Latham Top 2024 Texas-Led M&A Rankings
Mergers and acquisitions practices at nearly all law firms operating in Texas thrived in 2024. Eight law firms in Texas saw their M&A lawyers lead buyers, sellers and targets in 50 percent more M&A deals last year than they did in 2023, according to exclusive new data from The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker. Nine other law firms witnessed a 10 percent or more increase in leading the principals in M&A activity in 2024, CDT data shows. But no law firm’s Texas deal lawyers were busier in 2024 than those at Kirkland & Ellis.
CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 9 Firms, 179 Lawyers, $7.2B
On Feb. 5, Houston-based Mattress Firm was finally sold to Tempur Sealy, the largest mattress manufacturer on the globe. It only took 639 days. Blocked by the Federal Trade Commission, the deal had been unblocked on Jan. 31 by a Houston federal judge. Shaking off some provocative language found in Tempur Sealy company emails, Judge Charles Eskridge decided that the FTC not only misunderstood the mattress market, but effectively ignored the very class of consumers he expected them to protect. The CDT Roundup looks at the end of the long-running transaction, as well as the Texas-related transactions reported last week.
TPG’s Climate Investing Platform Acquires Altus Power for $2.2B
Altus Power, a commercial-scale provider of clean electric power in Stamford, Connecticut, announced Thursday that it was acquired by TPG's climate investing platform, TPG Rise Climate, for $2.2 billion. Lawyers from Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis are advising on the deal.
CDT Roundup: 16 Deals, 7 Firms, 200 Lawyers, $10.1B
The fourth quarter of 2024 showed a decline in M&A transactions in Texas and, it turns out, everywhere else. But that doesn't necessarily mean that M&A deals are heading for problems this year, says Pitchbook in its annual review of global M&A activity. The CDT Roundup takes a particular look at what it might mean for PE activity, which has been a soft spot in recent years. And, of course, we include the usual list of deals reported last week in Texas.
Viper Energy Acquires Diamondback Upstream Assets for $4.45B
Kirkland & Ellis advised Diamondback while Hunton AK counseled Viper's audit committee in a transaction that includes 69.6 million shares of Viper's operating subsidiary and $1 billion in cash. The deal is designed to reduce Diamondback debt accrued in its $26 billion purchase of Endeavor Energy Resources last year.
DOJ Sues to Block HPE’s $14B Acquisition of Juniper Networks
The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit in Northern California Thursday seeking to block the $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks by Texas-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company. Although investigated and recommended during the Biden Administration, the lawsuit is the first major regulatory litigation by the incoming Trump Administration.
