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As Sir Mix-A-Lot might note if he was writing about M&A instead hip-hop fundament, "We like big numbers and we cannot lie." As a result, we decided to continue our look at 2023's remarkable run of billion-dollar deals, and whether inflation inflated our numbers. That and the usual roster of transactions reported last week.
Holland & Knight and Akin advised on the deal between the two Houston-based companies that extends the on-going upstream consolidations offshore, into the Gulf of Mexico.
7-Eleven Inc. has agreed to purchase 204 stores hat include the Stripes and Laredo Taco Company brands from Sunoco LP. With locations primarily in New Mexico, Oklahoma and West Texas, the stores will join 7-Eleven’s more than 13,000-store portfolio. The purchase, valued at a reported $950 million, is the latest expansion for the convenience store giant. Akin, led by Thomas Yang and Ashton Barrineau Butcher, advised 7-Eleven on the deal, while Vinson & Elkins team, steered by Lande Spottswood and Yong Eoh, advised Dallas-based master limited partnership Sunoco.
Advised by Kirkland, Skadden and others, the deal has deep ties to a number of critical Texas energy and infrastructure projects. The Lawbook has the details, as well as the names of lawyers involved.
The size of a deal may not always be an indicator of its success, but 2023 in Texas will certainly go down in history as the year of some massive billion-dollar transactions. Despite the fact that the global M&A market saw a 17 percent decline in value and 6 percent decline in volume, Texas had the distinction of leading the world with the two largest megadeals: ExxonMobil's $64.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's $60 billion purchase of Hess Corp. Even ONEOK's $18 billion acquisition of Magellan Midstream Partners made it to the top dozen deals worldwide, as Texas demonstrated its energy prowess across the globe.
Advised by lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins, the deal brings to NG and LNG the same kind of billion-dollar consolidations taking place among major holders in the Permian Basin.
Worldwide M&A values in 2023 reached $2.9 trillion, down 17 percent from 2022. U.S. M&A values were $1.4 trillion in 2023, down about 5 percent compared to the prior year — the slowest (and lowest) annual number in six years. According to a study by LSEG, a data and information firm, private equity-backed M&A fared even worse: a decline of 30 percent in value from 2022. Mega deals ($10 billion+) were down in value and volume. So, what went right? Maybe more than it seems. A closer look at the numbers reveal something far less grim; maybe even optimistic. Perhaps needless to say, CDT Roundup takes that closer look — along with the usual "roundup" of lawyers and firms who reported their deals last week.
The M&A market for 2023 was characterized by some familiar bedfellows: uncertainty and energy. Dealmakers had to run a gauntlet that included, at various moments, war, inflation, Federal Reserve intervention, price uncertainties and even scandal in tech-heavy business sectors like banking and blockchain. But despite all that, the year 2023 has ended in decent shape.
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