There have been a few big energy deals this year, but none quite as big as one that closed last week. The merger between Woodside Petroleum and BHP was announced last August. But that was long before the Ukraine war and $120 oil. Vinson & Elkins partner Kaam Sahely was in the thick of it all that time. He shed some light on what it took to get the deal done. That, and the weekly roll call of Texas dealmakers are in the CDT Roundup.
Q&A with Katten’s Michael Chiusano
The Dallas litigator visited with The Texas Lawbook about his path to becoming a lawyer, how the Great Recession led to his move to Dallas and how his practice has evolved over the last decade.
CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 12 Firms, 185 Lawyers, $7.3B
Last week saw something not seen for awhile: the IPO debut of an oilfield services company. The $288 million deal was a bit below target, but it may have signaled investor interest in something too often unfamiliar in the industry: capital discipline. The CDT Roundup has details on that deal, as well as the usual weekly deal rosters.
CDT Roundup: 11 Deals, 9 Firms, 80 Lawyers, $532M
A volatile stock market has economists uttering the “R” word: Recession. And while most analysts are discounting the likelihood of full-blown downturn, Andrew Akers of PitchBook has three scenarios that could affect dealmaking for the near future. Those possibilities, and a review of last week’s deals in the CDT Roundup.
Orrick Nabs Willkie PE Partner
Willkie’s Houston office loses another private equity partner as Orrick snaps up David Aaronson. Aaronson often worked with Mike Piazza, who left Willkie earlier this year for Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.
CDT Roundup: 16 Deals, 12 Firms, 108 Lawyers, $10.5B
While recent commodity prices might suggest a favorable climate for M&A energy transactions, they aren’t really happening. O&G deals were down in value by 41 percent during the first quarter of 2022. Deals worth $1 billion or more were down nearly 60 percent, according to GlobalData. The CDT Roundup spells out details, along with names of the lawyers behind last week’s transactions.
Willkie Reinforces Houston PE Depth
On a day the firm also saw a partner leave for Gibson Dunn, Willkie added a Houston partner who has served as general counsel for two different private equity firms.
Gibson Dunn Adds Another PE Partner from Willkie
After only 16 months at Willkie, Jesse Myers has moved to Gibson Dunn. He joins former Willkie colleague, Michael De Voe Piazza, who made the move to Gibson in March. He also joins a cadre of transactional partners who have left Willkie in the past several months. Claire Poole has the details.