Energy Transfer buys EnCap’s Lotus for $1.45B

Vinson & Elkins, Sidley Austin and Shearman & Sterling advised on the cash and stock acquisition, which includes about 3,000 miles of pipeline through major areas of the Permian. After closing, Dallas-based Energy Transfer plans a new 30-mile connection with the Cushing hub in Oklahoma. Claire Poole details the deal and the names of the lawyers involved.

March 27, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: Deal Flow Slows, but Debt Steps In to Fill the Gap

For the week ended April 11, the CDT Roundup saw 10 deals reported with a total valuation of just over $5 billion. The prior week had 11 deals reported with a total value of $33 billion, dominated by a $29.1 billion megamerger between food distribution giants Sysco and Jetro Restaurant Depot. A year ago at this time, the Roundup reported on eight deals valued at about $2.4 billion.

This week, however, credit and capital markets dominate the deal numbers. Maybe "dominate" is strong a word to describe three debt issues, a $167 million PIPE and a secondary equity offering that forced a dip in a company stock.

April 12, 2026 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: 7 Deals, 7 Firms, 78 Lawyers, $14B

It's been five years since New York-headquartered Shearman & Sterling opened its first offices in Texas. The CDT Roundup thought it might be a good time to check in with Bill Nelson, the head of those Texas offices. His thoughts about the transition and the changes he's seen in his practice are featured this week, along with a relatively skimpy roll call of the 78 lawyers who ignored spring break to turn in this week's roster of deals.

March 21, 2023 Claire Poole & Allen Pusey

Latham Advises Incitec Pivot on $1.68B sale of Louisiana Ammonia Facility

The sale to CF Holdings, coupled with a long-term supply agreement, is part of a plan announced last November to spin off its industrial explosives subsidiary Dyno Nobel Americas. CF has energy transition upgrades planned for the site. Allen Pusey has the deal details, as well as the Latham lawyers involved.

March 20, 2023 Allen Pusey

CDT Roundup: 21 Deals, 17 Firms, 165 Lawyers, $11.6B

CERAWeek, the prestigious Houston energy confab, wrapped up last week. One of the more significant observations emerged from former Goldman Sachs analyst Arjun Murti, now a partner at Veritan. He thinks, for instance, it's time for the term "energy transition" to transition from a political Rorschach test to something more universal, understandable and verifiable. Claire Poole reflects on a few of his other observations in this week's CDT Roundup, along with the usual rollcall of deals and dealmakers who reported for duty during last week.

March 14, 2023 Claire Poole

Shearman Advises SAP SE in $12.5B Qualtrics Take-Private Deal

Several Texas-based lawyers were involved in the take-private deal, which comes barely two years after the business software company went public in a January 2021 IPO. An earlier headline has been changed to reflect the overall deal value.

March 13, 2023 Allen Pusey

Texas Startups Hope to Continue Raising Capital Despite Tech Downturn

While last year was challenging for the tech industry, Texas startups still raised billions of dollars, though often with lower valuations and more stringent deal terms. Now venture capital funds are flush with dry powder from record-high fundraising in 2022. So what does it take for startups to increase their chances of raising capital in a turbulent market?

March 9, 2023 Michael Torosian & Christopher Palermo

Foreign Investment Still Welcome in the U.S. Despite Buy American Rules

The good news for foreign investors and manufacturers is that Buy American regulations typically do not apply to investment in privately owned facilities. Opportunities, tax credits and other incentives abound.

March 7, 2023 Doug McCullough

CDT Roundup: 20 Deals, 11 Firms, 228 Lawyers, $9.7B

The $2.5 billion acquisition of Ranger Oil by Calgary-based Baytex Energy marked the first merger of public upstream companies in almost a year. If there's a renewed public-public phase of consolidation among small-to-mid-cap producers in the offing, there may be evidence of such in the Ranger-Baytex deal. The CDT Roundup explores the merger, along with the usual weekly listing of the deals reported by Texas lawyers.

March 7, 2023 Claire Poole

The Corporate Deal Tracker’s 2022 Law Firm M&A Rankings

No two law firms in Texas sat across the table from each other negotiating large mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures in 2022 more often than the Texas lawyers at Kirkland and V&E. Latham and Sidley were there several times, too. The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker has its final 2022 law firm rankings for M&A activity by Texas lawyers have been tabulated. Some firms such as Haynes and Boone, McGuireWoods, White & Case, Katten and Munsch Hardt, scored big increases. Others saw large drops in deal count. The Texas Lawbook has the in-depth report with all the data.

March 3, 2023 Allen Pusey, Christi Trammell & Mark Curriden

Baytex Energy Expands Eagle Ford Presence with $2.5B Deal; Kirkland, V&E, Latham Advise

Baytex says the transaction nearly doubles both its EBITDA and free cash flow, allowing an immediate step-up in direct shareholder returns, including the introduction of a dividend and increased share buybacks. The Lawbook has the names of the lawyers involved.

February 28, 2023 Allen Pusey

CDT Roundup: 13 Deals, 14 Firms, 130 Lawyers, $5.4B

Regrouping is a powerful incentive for many M&A deals. This week's Roundup looks at a couple at a couple of billion-dollar energy transactions that should have come as no surprise for that reason. Also, a quick look at the recent work of Stephen Noh, a former sports management major who now plies his eye for detail to million dollar deals at Kirkland. And, of course, there's the usual roster of Texas lawyers who worked on last week's reported transactions.

February 28, 2023 Claire Poole