The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

Corp. Deal Tracker/M&A

Kirkland, Sidley, V&E, Latham Top CDT’s 2021 Law Firm M&A Rankings in Texas

Texas lawyers feasted on mergers and acquisitions in 2021. The Texas offices of Kirkland & Ellis did the most deals — though Sidley, Vinson & Elkins and Latham & Watkins were crazy busy. The Texas Lawbook‘s Corporate Deal Tracker lists the law firms that were involved in a record-smashing 929 corporate deals last year and the dealmakers who led those transactions.

Correction:The Texas Lawbook, in an earlier version of this article, undercounted the deal count and deal value for Gibson Dunn, Haynes and Boone and Locke Lord. We apologize for this error.

CDT Roundup: 11 Deals, 8 Firms, 99 Lawyers, $2.5B

Texas M&A staged a comeback year in 2021 with some astonishing deal numbers. But behind those numbers lies some interesting changes in the business sectors that both gained and changed. Some are obvious, like healthcare and infrastructure; but some are not so obvious, like food. The CDT Roundup looks at some of those numbers and, in particular, one food deal that typifies several ways in which the food sector is changing, along with last week’s dealmaking and the firms involved.

M&A 2021: A Year Beyond ‘Even the Wildest Expectations’

Texas M&A boomed in Texas in 2021 — in value, in deal count and in ways that bode well for 2022. According to exclusive data from The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker, each month of 2021 outperformed 2020 year-over-year. There were more deals at basically every level — for $1 million or $1 billion or beyond. Whether in energy or healthcare, construction or infrastructure, technology or transportation, it was a year that rebounded from the pandemic beyond the most optimistic expectations. The Lawbook has the numbers, the tables and the views of deal lawyers across the state of what was, from virtually any perspective, a very remarkable year.

CDT Roundup: 13 Deals, 10 Firms, 99 Lawyers, $5.1B

Upstream M&A values for oil and gas were up last year by 25% over 2020, a hopeful sign that energy production transactions are getting back to pre-Covid levels. However, gains in deal volume were slight. At the moment, 2022 seems set for continued deal flow, particularly in the mid-size markets. But beyond? The CDT Roundup has more on those numbers and a look at the lawyers who provided last week’s deals.

Chesapeake Picks Up Chief for $2.65B

Three firms in Texas — Gibson Dunn, Shearman & Sterling and Akin Gump — advised on the deal, which was reported as in its final stages last week. Some analysts are curious how Chesapeake will hedge, given concerns about the outlook for natural prices in 2023.

© Copyright 2025 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.