Deals are all about numbers: enterprise value, debt, return on investment, EBITDA, yield, etc. The CDT this week looks at a few of the deals from last week whose terms were undisclosed but suggest values that could make a week look far better than it does on paper. That, along with the usual summaries of Texas-related deals reported last week — whether they had values attached or not.
Claire Poole, the Doyenne of Texas Deal Journalism, is Retiring
Claire Poole, one of the brightest lights in business journalism, is retiring. Her last day is today. For decades, she has written about dealmaking in Texas and beyond with integrity, talent and grit. But the biggest story she’s been involved with may well be her own.
Arch Resources, CONSOL Energy to Merge, Creating $5.2B Global Coal Operation
Latham & Watkins, Gibson Dunn, Wachtell and McGuireWoods advised on the $2.8 billion merger-of-equals transaction to create Core Natural Resources. The deal combines mining operations across 11 states aimed at global coal exports of metallurgic grade coal.
CDT Roundup: 25 Deals, 16 Firms, 304 Lawyers, $49.2B
According to S&P Global, U.S. M&A deal value has declined between election day and year-end in four of the previous seven election cycles. That also means, of course, that in three of those seven cycles, deal value didn’t decline. This week the CDT Roundup leans on a recent Morgan Stanley report that suggests that deal-making fundamentals this year are strong enough that the outcome of the upcoming election may not make much difference. Things can change, but with 25 deals reported last week valued at nearly $50 billion, a prediction of robust post-election M&A markets doesn’t seem that far off the mark. As always, we have the deals and the names of those who worked on them.
Quantum Picks Up Caerus’ Oil, Gas Operations for $1.8B
V&E advised Quantum and its portfolio companies QB Energy and Koda Resources while Davis Graham & Stubbs and Latham & Watkins assisted Caerus, which is backed by Oaktree, Anschutz and Old Ironsides.