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Corp. Deal Tracker/M&A

M&A H1 Rankings: Shake Outs At The Top

Even for a 2018 characterized by shake-ups – firm mergers, office openings, lateral raids – the changes at the top of the first-half M&A legal advisor charts are remarkable. V&E dropped. Kirkland ascended. And two national firms with no presence in Texas took the top deal value spots.

Oil Patch Busts Out With $12.8B Pair Of Deals Involving Seven Texas Law Firms

Australian mining giant BHP Billiton announced it sold its U.S. shale properties for $10.8 billion in cash.

The buyers were BP, which picked up BHP’s Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Permian properties under unit Petrohawk Energy for $10.5 billion; and Merit Energy, whose unit MMGJ Hugoton III agreed to acquire BHP’s Fayetteville Shale assets for $300 million.

Corporate Lawyers Lateral = Billions of Dollars of Legal Work on the Move

When star Houston corporate lawyer Sean Wheeler moved his law practice to Kirkland & Ellis last week, he likely took his book of business with him. During the past 18 months, Wheeler led or co-led 29 M&A and capital markets deals worth a combined $14.3 billion.
A Texas Lawbook investigative report found that at least 84 prominent dealmaking lawyers in Texas jumped to new law firms since Jan. 1, 2017. Those lawyers handled hundreds of deals valued at nearly $200 billion, according to the Corporate Deal Tracker. The Texas Lawbook has exclusive details.

CDT Weekly Roundup: 14 Deals Worth $5.37B at a Time of $1.09T in Private Equity Money Out There Looking for a Home

There’s a whole lot of private equity money out there. At the end of June, according to data from Preqin, alternative investment firms worldwide had $1.8 trillion in “dry powder.” All that available cash has slowed down capital raisings in the first half of this year. But investment activity continues, a chunk of it creating work for transactional lawyers in

CDT Weekly Roundup: 16 Deals Worth $11.2B At A Busy Time For IPOs

There are lots of reasons, but IPO’s are starting to pop up again in Texas dealmaking. A California oil and gas explorer and producer recently filed for an IPO in which Texas lawyers are involved. And last week a big Texas computer maker announced a deal that will take it public again – and make its billionaire CEO even richer. Claire Poole has all details on those deals and more in The Texas Lawbook.

CDT Weekly Roundup: 13 Deals Worth $7B In A Brisk World M&A Market

For the first half of the year, more than $2.35 trillion in M&A transactions have been reported globally – a record pace – thanks to economic growth, low interest rates, technology shifts and the Trump-driven tax cuts, according to analysts. And Texas attorneys benefitted last week to the tune of 13 deals worth $7 billion. Claire Poole has the particulars in her weekly Corporate Deal Tracker Roundup.

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