CDT Roundup: 21 Deals, 12 Firms, 178 Lawyers, $26.7B

Whether fueled by politics or economics, there is a move afoot to break up big companies.

Take long suffering General Electric, which announced plans last week to split into three publicly traded companies: aviation, healthcare and energy. Or consider Johnson & Johnson, which aims to spin off its consumer division (Baker McKenzie associate Sarah Rosales in Houston was part of the Latin America team representing the firm’s longtime client). Shell is being pressured by activist investor Dan Loeb to do the same to improve its performance.

Who’s next among Texas’ largest companies, like ExxonMobil? Activist firm Engine No. 1  has a seat on the oil giant’s board, so it could push for more change. Dell already broke off its 81% stake in VMware earlier this month, a positive step in addressing its nearly $49 billion debt load. And AT&T spun off DirecTV and WarnerMedia earlier this year. It may be that big and bad is not always good.

Meanwhile, on the oil and gas front, Haynes and Boone came out last week with its energy bank price deck survey indicating a sunny outlook for the industry, the firm’s PR handlers say. 

According to the survey, on average and over the near term, banks have increased their oil price expectations by almost 20% over what they reported in Haynes and Boone’s spring 2021 survey.

When projecting ahead from 2025 to 2030, the average prices for oil were almost 10% higher in the fall 2021 survey compared with the price decks for the last three surveys conducted by the firm between spring 2020 through spring 2021.

The banks’ natural gas base case mean in the fall 2021 survey also increased by 28% from spring 2021. And similar to the banks’ oil price decks, out years for gas prices — between 2025 and 2030 — trend closer to past years’ natural gas price decks.

“According to our survey, borrowing bases should be increasing,” said Haynes and Boone partner Buddy Clark, co-chair of the firm’s energy practice group. “This is positive news for producers and reinforces the findings from our fall 2021 borrowing base redeterminations survey in which most respondents predicted borrowing bases to increase by 10% to 20% in the upcoming redetermination season.”

Clark compares price decks with weather forecasts: Typically they are more accurate in the near term. He noted that the latest price deck survey also shows a wide variation among the participating banks on future oil and natural gas prices.

“Producers should consider shopping around for debt capital with the caveat that the price deck alone does not determine the borrowing base banks will be willing to lend,” he said.

There seemed to be more buying than shopping this week with 21 deals valued at $26.3 billion. Moreover, both deal count and deal value were spread nicely between M&A (13 deals at $11.8 billion) and Capital Markets transactions (8 deals at $14.9 billion). That’s the best week by value since August and the fourth best week by value this year.

For contrast, last week we reported 12 deals at $8.3 billion. For shock value, this time last year we reported 14 deals valued at $864 million. For those who struggle with the math, this week’s deal value was nearly 31 times the deal value for the same week in 2020.

Weekly Corporate Deal Tracker Roundup Stats

A compilation of weekly stats from The Lawbook's CDT Weekly Roundup
(Deal Values in Millions)

Week Ending	Deal Count	Amount	Firms	Lawyers	M&A Count	M&A Value $M	CapM Count	CapM Value $M
21-Dec-24	11	$2,798	11	92	8	$2,229	3	$570
14-Dec-24	15	$5,323	12	186	12	$3,812	3	$1,511
07-Dec-24	16	$4,766	10	231	11	$2,321	5	2,445
30-Nov-24	10	$10,291	9	103	4	$8,290	6	$2.001
23-Nov-24	15	$4,553	15	153	11	$3,379	4	$1,174
16-Nov-24	17	$11,488	11	245	13	$10,186	4	$1,303
09-Nov-24	14	$2,110	12	139	12	$1,410	2	$700
02-Nov-24	12	$52,788	11	107	11	$52,738	1	$50
26-Oct-24	8	$3,160	8	65	7	$3,065	1	$75
19-Oct-24	12	$5,304	11	136	11	$4,554	1	$750
12-Oct-24	17	$8,438	12	150	15	$8,116	2	$322
05-Oct-24	22	$23,181	12	189	15	$19,980	7	$3,201
28-Sep-24	11	$2,356	7	144	7	$53	4	$2,303
21-Sep-24	12	$9,568	10	169	5	$4,101	7	$5,467
14-Sep-24	24	$10,988	12	235	16	$7,175	8	$3,813
7-Sep-24	12	$20,420	16	168	11	$20,307	1	$112.9
31-Aug-24	13	$20,631	9	134	12	$14,775	1	$5,856
24-Aug-24	19	$8,452	21	325	16	$7,102	3	$1,350
17-Aug-24	25	$49,196	16	304	11	$39,386	14	$9,810
10-Aug-24	20	$12,264	15	312	16	$9,794	4	$2,470
03-Aug-24	26	$16,498	16	334	18	$8,137	8	$8,361
27-Jul-24	19	$16,442	21	271	15	$13,838	4	$2,604
20-Jul-24	15	$16,016	14	184	10	$14,232	5	$1,784
13-Jul-24	20	$17,220	14	265	18	$7,146	2	$10,074
6-Jul-24	11	$3,941	11	95	8	$2,650	3	$1,291
29-Jun-24	14	$6,296	15	224	8	$6,296	6	$1,927
22-Jun-24	12	$5,679	8	137	5	$210	7	$5,469
15-Jun-24	13	$9,895	16	214	10	$5,280	3	$4,615
8-Jun-24	19	$23,859	13	239	12	$19,436	7	$4,423
1-Jun-24	12	$34,510	11	147	9	$26,110	3	$8,400
25-May-24	13	$9,684	15	171	10	$4,434	3	$5,250
18-May-24	11	$5,490	11	173	8	$3,129	3	$2,361
11-May-24	22	$14,855	14	227	16	$11,105	6	$3,750
4-May-24	13	$3,139	9	87	10	$1,297	3	$1,842
27-Apr-24	10	$6,684	6	28	10	$6,684	0	0
20-Apr-24	19	$15,989	11	147	9	$5,208	10	$10,781
13-Apr-24	13	$8,952	9	76	10	$1,652	3	$7,300
6-Apr-24	22	$22,616	14	222	14	$13,501	8	$13,116
30-Mar-24	12	$9,286	8	136	8	$4,299	4	$4,987
23-Mar-24	18	$5,451	17	266	16	$4,759	2	$692
16-Mar-24	21	$11,437	13	186	14	$9,316	6	$2,070
9-Mar-24	23	$4,695	21	218	19	$2,723	4	$1,972
2-Mar-24	20	$9,108	19	372	14	$4,558	6	$4,550
24-Feb-24	19	$16,382	12	248	15	$9,507	4	$6,875
17-Feb-24	16	$29,932	15	157	12	$29,216	4	$716
10-Feb-24	25	$10,750	17	196	19	$5,372	6	$5,379
3-Feb-24	12	$8,416	18	125	9	$3,416	3	$5,000
27-Jan-24	9	$8,165	9	87	8	$7,815	1	$800
20-Jan-24	14	$4,084	12	109	12	$3,219	2	$865
13-Jan-24	17	$33,588	12	256	12	$26,765	5	$6,823
6-Jan-24	8	$7,915	8	84	6	$7,265	2	$650
30-Dec-23	17	$14,599	12	99	15	$2,714	2	$11,885
23-Dec-23	23	$4,182	13	219	16	$1,813	7	$2,370
16-Dec-23	13	$16,436	13	280	7	$15,150	5	$1,286
9-Dec-23	26	$14,633.90	17	244	16	$8,095	10	$6,538.90
2-Dec-23	13	$6,720	9	57	12	$6,630	1	$90
25-Nov-23	9	$4,835	9	131	6	$1,785	3	$3,050
18-Nov-23	22	$6,568.70	17	184	14	$4,709.20	8	$1,859.50
11-Nov-23	15	$9,825	13	179	12	$6,581	3	$3,244
4-Nov-23	15	$20,582.50	14	193	12	$19,417.50	3	$1,165
28-Oct-23	18	$68,419.10	18	152	15	$66,646	3	$1,773.10
21-Oct-23	16	$6,755.90	16	165	15	$6,755.90	1	$3
14-Oct-23	14	$67,851.20	13	125	9	$61,998.50	5	$5,852.70
7-Oct-23	17	$6,595.50	13	228	16	$5,995.50	1	$600
30-Sep-23	17	$1,896.45	13	189	14	$806.45	3	$1,090
23-Sep-23	23	$6,432.70	17	230	16	$1,402.80	7	$5,029.90
16-Sep-23	25	$23,226.70	23	353	16	$17,239	9	$5,987.70
9-Sep-23	12	$6,369	8	102	7	$4,311	5	$2,058
2-Sep-23	14	$2,522	6	92	13	$1,322	1	$1,200
26-Aug-23	17	$12,160.25	13	202	15	$6,573.25	2	$5,587.00
19-Aug-23	19	$11,505	13	213	15	$11,255	4	$250
12-Aug-23	19	$9,698.80	13	184	7	$3,270	12	$6,428.80
5-Aug-23	13	$5,201	12	118	12	$5,051	1	$150
29-Jul-23	15	$21,031.60	13	196	11	$18,292.00	4	$2,739.60
22-Jul-23	18	$3,992	12	130	13	$2,808	5	$1,184
15-Jul-23	13	$8,254.95	13	81	13	$8,254.95	0	0
8-Jul-23	16	$5,441.45	12	172	11	$2,443	5	$2,998.45
1-Jul-23	16	$6,872	10	105	12	$5,474	4	$1,398
24-Jun-23	13	$10,914	16	201	10	$7,874	3	$3,040
17-Jun-23	17	$5,880.70	15	151	15	$4,705.70	2	$1,175
10-Jun-23	19	$8,516.10	13	111	16	$6,252.40	3	$2,263.70
June 3 2023	12	$6,104.42	12	138	8	$4,256.92	4	$1,847.50
27-May-23	17	$12,200	10	67	11	$6,165	6	$6,035
20-May-23	11	$22,458.10	8	103	4	$19,455	7	$3,003
13-May-23	12	$7,034	10	101	8	$5,460	4	$1,574
6-May-23	20	$3,297.60	18	196	17	$2,985.60	3	$312
29-Apr-23	23	$3,691.20	18	135	17	$1,969.70	6	$1,721.50
22-Apr-23	16	$5,570	14	104	14	$4,750	2	$1,000
15-Apr-23	12	$23,818.10	9	59	10	$21,618.10	2	$2,200
8-Apr-23	16	$7,949	9	173	9	$5,472	7	$3,477
1-Apr-23	21	$18,676.70	12	175	11	$10,926.70	10	$7,750
25-Mar-23	15	$8,779.50	10	141	5	$2,362	10	$6,416.50
18-Mar-23	7	$14,048.80	6	69	5	$13,345	2	$703.80
11-Mar-23	21	$11,576	16	165	16	$8,131	5	$3,445
4-Mar-23	20	$9,668	11	228	16	$8,209	4	$1,459
25-Feb-23	13	$5,335	13	130	12	$4,235	1	$1,200
18-Feb-23	14	$5,743.70	13	158	8	$898.70	6	$4,845
11-Feb-23	16	$12,088	12	137	12	$9,965	4	$2,123
4-Feb-23	17	$8,066	15	140	13	$5,614	4	$2,452
28-Jan-23	7	$2,180	7	75	5	$1,692.75	2	$488
21-Jan-23	17	$5,768	16	174	12	$1,918	5	$3,850
14-Jan-23	11	$2, 800	10	102	8	$421	3	$2,400
7-Jan-23	18	$8,296	11	167	14	$6,461	3	$1,835
31-Dec-22	14	$2,732	11	99	12	$2,092	2	$640
17-Dec	14	$7,919	13	115	12	$7,419	1	$500
10-Dec-22	14	$10,093	12	88	11	$7,093	3	$3,000
3-Dec-22	26	$12,800.90	11	172	20	$4,141	6	$8,659.90
26-Nov-22	8	$2,266.70	8	5	3	$76	5	$2,190.70
19-Nov-22	21	$2,886	15	212	19	$2,550	2	$336
12-Nov-22	13	$15,093.70	9	81	9	$14,200	4	$893.70
5-Nov-22	25	19,337.20	16	509	22	$8,267.20	3	$11,070
29-Oct-22	15	$7,805.30	9	116	14	$7,180.30	1	$625
22-Oct-22	20	$8,193.50	13	253	13	$5,442	7	$2,751.50
15-Oct-22	9	$3,046.10	9	139	7	$2,588.30	2	$457.80
8-Oct-22	19	$2,011.80	12	114	16	$833.80	3	$1,178
1-Oct-22	23	$5,532.90	16	156	18	$4,952.30	5	$580.60
24-Sep-22	18	$5,194	14	216	15	$4,050	3	$1,144
17-Sep-22	21	$8,352.30	12	320	15	$4,759.60	6	$3,592.70
10-Sep-22	15	$19,853.50	10	126	13	$19,403.60	2	$450
3-Sep-22	9	$2,312	9	62	9	$2,312	0	0
27-Aug-22	16	$30,891.70	10	135	15	$30,666.40	1	227.7
20-Aug-22	12	$1,977	8	152	9	925	3	$1,052
13-Aug-22	18	$8,004.70	11	242	11	$2,844.70	7	$5,160
6-Aug-22	24	$7,948.90	12	240	17	$3,577	7	$4,371.90
30-Jul-22	8	$6,941	9	78	7	$6,839	1	$102
23-Jul-22	11	$801	11	92	10	$801	1	0
16-Jul-22	14	$3,650	10	122	14	$3,650	0	0
9-Jul-22	10	$3,557.70	7	68	9	$3,557.70	1	0
2-Jul-22	18	$8,609.40	13	152	15	$2,754.40	3	$5,855
25-Jun-22	15	$6,142	13	146	9	$2,017	6	$4,125
18-Jun-22	17	$11,890.10	14	228	15	$11,410	2	479.7
11-Jun-22	17	$7,600	12	123	10	$2,300	7	$5,300
4-Jun-22	12	$2,937	10	127	9	$692	3	$2,245
28-May-22	9	$3,197.60	11	86	9	$3,197.60	0	0
21-May-22	14	$7,284.50	12	185	11	$6,609	3	$675.50
14-May-22	11	$306.60	9	80	10	$306.60	1	$225
7-May-22	16	$10,451.75	12	108	12	$1,827	4	$8,624.75
30-Apr-22	16	$2,296.50	16	157	12	$895.50	4	$1,401
23-Apr-22	10	$2,241	11	58	8	$1,641	2	$600
16-Apr-22	11	$6,643	7	156	8	$2,359	3	$4,284
9-Apr-22	17	$4,429	14	184	11	$1,690	6	$2,739
2-Apr-22	13	$1,755	8	84	10	$1,145	3	$610
26-Mar-22	11	$3,205	8	65	6	$200	5	$3,005
19-Mar-22	13	$2,239.17	9	106	13	$2,239.17	0	0
12-Mar-22	18	$12,016	11	239	15	$11,965	2	$51.35
5-Mar-22	17	$6,786	13	137	13	$5,161	4	$1,625
26-Feb-22	12	$5,095	8	149	9	$4,437.50	3	$658
19-Feb-22	17	$22,229	17	174	14	$21,354	3	$875
12-Feb-22	12	$2,344.70	10	73	8	$641.70	4	$1,703
5-Feb-22	11	$2,503	8	99	11	$2,503	0	0
29-Jan-22	11	$3,872	12	101	12	$3,872	0	0
22-Jan-22	13	$5,143.50	10	99	12	$4,842.50	1	$301
15-Jan-22	12	$7,605	9	155	9	$6,480	3	$1,025
8-Jan-22	13	$8,256.20	11	102	13	$8,256.20	0	0
1-Jan-22	9	$1,273.80	6	50	9	$1,273.80	0	0
25-Dec-21	21	$4,734.75	11	176	16	$3,410	5	$1,324.75
18-Dec-21	26	$7,325.20	15	193	18	$3,640.20	8	$3,685.20
11-Dec-21	16	$5,017	10	109	13	$1,417	3	$3,600
4-Dec-21	14	$2,310	8	86	8	$2,310	6	$1,882.05
27-Nov-21	9	$3.460.1	10	101	6	$1,758	3	$1,702.60
20-Nov-21	20	$22,792	15	157	12	$18,864.50	8	$3,928
13-Nov-21	21	$26,729	12	178	13	$11,822	8	$14,907
6-Nov-21	12	$8,303	13	157	10	$6,682	3	$1,621
30-Oct-21	21	$10,368	15	218	15	$9,24.4	6	$1,103.00
23-Oct-21	21	$18.783.1	15	222	11	$12,314	10	$6,468.60
16-Oct-21	15	$3,868	11	118	15	$2,293	2	$1,575
9-Oct-21	20	$8,610	16	175	16	$7,795	4	$815
2-Oct-21	14	$6,250	11	137	10	$5,200	4	$1,050
25-Sep-21	11	$11,460	9	93	7	$10,200	4	$1,250
18-Sep-21	11	$16,603	8	99	8	$15,084	3	$1,519
11-Sep-21	17	$10,653	11	103	13	$8,503	4	$2,150
4-Sep-21	13	$7,222	10	89	11	$6,715	2	$507
28-Aug-21	12	$763	9	63	11	$663	1	$100
21-Aug-21	12	$29,659	7	79	11	$29,579	1	$80
14-Aug-21	22	$17,845	11	199	12	$12,805	10	$5,04
7-Aug-21	17	$13,670	12	139	15	$11,766	2	$1,904
31-Jul-21	21	$8,160	11	134	10	$3,574	10	$4,586
July 24,2021	21	$6,367	11	139	15	$3,712	6	$2,655
17-Jul-21	14	$4,009	11	124	12	$2,015	2	$1,994
10-Jul-21	16	$3,997	13	143	11	$1,597	4	$2,4
3-Jul-21	24	$7,492	13	94	16	$3,769	8	$3,722
26-Jun-21	10	$4,995	7	85	8	$3,847	2	$1,148
19-Jun-21	28	$16,830	8	228	9	$1,861	19	$14,968
12-Jun-21	26	$27,238	15	209	19	$25,602	7	$1,636
5-Jun-21	15	$15,539	13	100	13	$14,709	2	$600
29-May-21	35	$20,279	11	145	28	$18,64	7	$1,639
22-May-21	24	$53,208	14	174	17	$51,047	7	$2,161
15-May-21	18	$10,620	13	220	11	$5,870	7	$4,809
8-May-21	17	$10,400	11	156	15	$8,386	2	$2,500
1-May-21	21	$7,200	16	115	12	$3,808	9	$3,392
24-Apr-21	8	$20,200	9	31	8	$20,200	0	0
17-Apr-21	14	$6,270	8	102	11	$40,180	3	$2,260
10-Apr-21	15	$8,940	13	129	14	$7,990	1	$950
3-Apr-21	18	$19,513	10	151	12	$16,923	6	$2,590
27-Mar-21	27	$13,942	15	244	14	$4,300	13	$9,633.50
20-Mar-21	11	$2,046	4	102	3	$270	8	$1,776
13-Mar-21	15	$3,270	9	109	6	$538	9	$2,732
6-Mar-21	24	$13,617	10	196	13	$10,395	11	$3,222
27-Feb-21	19	$8,105	12	139	15	$4,970	4	$3,135
20-Feb-21	9	$8,820	9	153	8	$8,520	1	$300
13-Feb-21	12	$4,852.60	7	81	7	2,766	5	$2,086.60
6-Feb-21	18	$9,752	13	153	14	$5,222	4	$4,530
30-Jan-21	18	$9,449	9	182	15	$8,753.80	3	$695.30
23-Jan-21	14	$8,150	8	118	6	$4,000	8	$4,150
16-Jan-21	17	$6,783	13	138	11	$2,400	6	$4,382.90
9-Jan-21	22	$6,829	14	135	18	$3,139.30	4	$3,690
2-Jan-21	7	$1,466	7	60	7	$1,466	0	0
26-Dec-20	18	$15,900	12	163	16	$5,300	1	$600
19-Dec-20	18	$9,769	14	110	14	$8,426	4	$1,343
12-Dec-20	10	$7,200	9	100	9	$3,325	1	$3,830
5-Dec-20	15	$4,261	9	122	9	$2,780	6	$1,481
28-Nov-20	19	$7,758	10	110	13	$4,003	6	$3,755
14-Nov-20	14	$864.10	14	157	12	$289.10	2	$575
7-Nov-20	13	$6,332	9	129	9	$2,483.50	4	$3,849
31-Oct-20	10	$3,995.80	8	103	6	$3,231.10	4	$754.70
24-Oct-20	6	$18,100	6	58	5	$17,709	1	$350
17-Oct-20	8	$351.90	5	55	8	$351.90	0	0
10-Oct-20	7	$5,229	3	50	4	$735	3	$4,494
3-Oct-20	14	$21,428	9	173	9	$17,535	5	$3,893
26-Sep-20	10	$12,770	8	93	5	$10,300	5	$2,470
19-Sep-20	14	$8,365	9	101	6	$1,020	8	$7,345
12-Sep-20	6	$4,406	8	59	3	$1,270	3	$3,136
5-Sep-20	11	$5,191	8	117	9	$4,061	2	$1,130
29-Aug-20	11	$2,531	9	94	5	$1,130	6	$1,401
22-Aug-20	18	$6,574	12	140	7	$1,930	11	$4,644
15-Aug-20	13	$4,991	10	97	7	$1,216	6	$3,775
8-Aug-20	12	$32,092	11	112	9	$30,457	3	$1,635
1-Aug-20	7	$5,287	8	76	5	$3,687	2	$1,600
25-Jul-20	9	$18,751	6	67	7	$18,403	2	$348
18-Jul-20	6	$1,982.50	5	50	4	$1,407.50	2	$575
11-Jul-20	11	$565.10	12	75	10	$65.10	1	$500
4-Jul-20	10	$8,889	8	98	9	$8,788	1	$100.30
27-Jun-20	8	$6,874	10	50	5	$4,972.50	3	$2,081.50
20-Jun-20	12	$4,444	9	115	7	$2,829	5	$1,615
13-Jun-20	6	$3,582	4	37	2	$350	4	$3,232
6-Jun-20	11	$3,213.70	8	65	7	$470	4	$2,743.70
30-May-20	8	$7,335	7	48	6	$4,639	2	$2,697
23-May-20	4	$432.40	4	34	3	$432.40	1	0
16-May-20	6	$310	6	34	5	$310	1	0
9-May-20	18	$5,630	16	124	14	$3,180	4	$2,450
2-May-20	15	10,400	10	90	8	$1,900	7	$,8,500
25-Apr-20	8	$3,400	9	36	5	$1,000	3	$2,450
18-Apr-20	19	$9,500	14	92	8	$185.70	11	$9,360
11-Apr-20	12	$6,000	9	40	5	$190	7	$5,800
4-Apr-20	14	$8,200	11	68	10	$2,200	4	$6,000
28-Mar-20	16	$6,500	13	96	10	$3,700	6	$2,800
21-Mar-20	11	$11,910	7	33	7	$2,250	4	$9,960
14-Mar-20	7	809.8	6	34	6	684.8	1	125
7-Mar-20	16	$2,500	15	70	13	$669	3	$1,400
29-Feb-20	13	$15,260	13	128	11	$11,760	2	$3,500
22-Feb-20	12	$3,700	10	92	10	$2,560	2	$1,130
15-Feb-20	16	$1,250	10	84	12	$35	4	$1,222
8-Feb-20	18	$6,080	14	123	14	$2,595	4	$3,485
1-Feb-20	21	$20,900	12	101	14	$17,860	7	$3,060
25-Jan-20	13	$7,430	13	62	12	$6,430	1	$1,000
18-Jan-20	23	$9,580	15	120	19	$6,580	4	$3,000
11-Jan-20	21	$14,200	18	199	16	$1,020	5	$13,200
4-Jan-20	22	$6,400	11	119	16	$3,204	6	$3,245
28-Dec-19	22	$7,150	19	175	18	$6,800	4	$327.40
14-Dec-19	24	$36,300	23	167	19	$9,500	5	$26,800
7-Dec-19	11	$10,400	11	55	7	$1,082	4	$9,370
November 30. 2019	14	$2,450	12	126	12	$1,760	2	$692.50
23-Nov-19	16	$1,995	10	41	11	$615	5	$1,380
16-Nov-19	15	$3,820	13	135	11	$2,500	4	$1,271
9-Nov-19	25	$12,900	17	182	23	$12,200	2	$575
2-Nov-19	10	$2,470	12	61	9	2,450	3	$22
26-Oct-19	12	$5,560	14	70	11	$3,860	1	$1,700
19-Oct-19	8	$6,600	8	138	8	$6,600	0	0
12-Oct-19	19	$4,300	14	55	16	$3,800	3	$500
5-Oct-19	18	$14,500	19	166	15	$11,100	3	$3,400
28-Sep-19	19	$8,100	18	132	18	$7,560	1	$550
21-Sep-19	14	$6,300	16	66	11	$2,160	3	$4,170
14-Sep-19	15	$23,800	12	56	11	$21,250	4	$2,570
7-Sep-19	17	$3,500	15	98	14	$1,900	3	$1,600
31-Aug-19	5	$8,700	6	50	5	$8,700	0	0
24-Aug-19	16	$10,000	14	82	15	$4,250	1	$5,750
16-Aug-19	10	$1,680	5	52	7	$650	3	$950
9-Aug-19	17	$17,700	15	68	14	$3,900	3	$13,800
2-Aug-19	13	$5,760	12	108	13	$5,760	NA	NA
27-Jul-19	11	$7,300	13	76	8	$6,570	3	$730
20-Jul-19	13	$11,800	13	125	11	$5,300	2	$6,500
13-Jul-19	10	$775	7	46	8	$542.50	2	$233
6-Jul-19	7	$2,500	9	85	7	$2,500	0	0
29-Jun-19	23	$8,290	15	154	17	$2,300	6	$5,970
22-Jun-19	17	$10,700	10	139	14	$7,700	3	$3,000
15-Jun-19	11	$13,500	14	160	11	$13,500	NA	NA
8-Jun-19	13	$2,870	17	55	11	$1,570	2	$1,300
1-Jun-19	10	$4,460	11	60	8	$4,140	2	$315
25-May-19	17	$4,360	14	79	14	$3,700	3	$612
18-May-19	22	$9,000	17	150	16	$3,400	6	$5,600
11-May-19	18	$19,800	17	177	15	$18,300	3	$1,500
4-May-19	10	$7,075	6	32	8	$6,900	2	$175
27-Apr-19	15	$3,200	14	117	14	$3,160	1	$40
20-Apr-19	13	$13,500	10	90	9	$12,200	4	$1,300
13-Apr-19	16	$38,900	14	91	14	$37,800	2	$1,100
6-Apr-19	12	$6,870	11	94	10	$6,730	2	$50
30-Mar-19	15	$6,470	12	84	10	$7,91.5	5	$5,677
23-Mar-19	18	$6,450	14	91	14	$5,042	4	$1,408
16-Mar-19	14	$10,180	12	115	11	$8,800	3	$1,300
9-Mar-19	9	$1,800	6	49	8	$1,300	1	$500
2-Mar-19	20	$3,033	16	107	14	$1,817	6	$1,262
23-Feb-19	12	$2,040	8	69	9	$614.60	3	$1,430
16-Feb-19	16	$9,970	18	77	16	$9,970	0	0
9-Feb-19	14	$6,400	10	110	14	$6,400	0	0
2-Feb-19	18	$6,740	15	99	16	$5,720	2	$950
26-Jan-19	13	$2,770	11	67	11	$918.95	2	$1,850
19-Jan-19	15	$3,819	16	76	12	$2,594	3	$1,225
12-Jan-19	18	$7,283	14	92	15	$1,683	3	$5,600
5-Jan-19	10	$529	12	50	10	$529	0	0
22-Dec-18	17	$2,570	13	87	14	$941	3	$1,629
15-Dec-18	10	$2,860	8	26	8	$264	2	$2,600
8-Dec-18	15	$1,819	16	65	12	$552	3	$1,267
1-Dec-18	12	$7,500	10	90	9	$1,200	3	$6,200
28-Nov-18	15	$4,500	11	107	14	$4,000	1	$500
19-Nov-18	18	$6,137	13	98	13	$2,142	5	$3,995
14-Nov-18	18	$9,200	13	152	15	$8,500	3	$694
6-Nov-18	16	$17,300	16	183	14	$16,361	2	$950
29-Oct-18	14	$14,400	18	127	17	$13,800	1	$600
24-Oct-18	13	$6,140	13	126	11	$5,122	2	$1,018
17-Oct-18	18	$18,390	15	125	14	$12,292	4	$6,098
10-Oct-18	29	$3,149	18	104	20	$1,647	9	$819
2-Oct-18	18	$9,300	11	67	14	$7,300	4	$2,000
25-Sep-18	13	$7,000	11	75	10	$6,000	3	$995
18-Sep-18	9	$3,570	7	44	9	$3,570	0	0
11-Sep-18	13	$5,900	10	132	13	$5,900	0	0
7-Sep-18	14	$5,000	15	86	11	$4,000	3	$1,000
29-Aug-18	15	$20,700	14	79	13	$4,700	2	$16,000
20-Aug-18	10	$12,400	11	53	8	$11,380	3	$1,057
14-Aug-18	12	$19,900	12	132	9	$18,889	3	$1,011
7-Aug-18	16	$68,600	11	106	13	$67,259	3	$1,340
31-Jul-18	15	$15,100	15	95	11	$13,060	4	$2,060
23-Jul-18	13	$2,130	15	60	10	$1,804	3	$1,100
17-Jul-18	14	$5,370	17	98	9	$4,310	5	$1,100
9-Jul-18	16	$11,200	15	74	10	$11,080	6	$862
3-Jul-18	13	$7,000	7	81	12	$6,330	1	$750
25-Jun-18	15	$8,800	13	97	9	$4,970	6	$3,930
18-Jun-18	13	$14,200	14	80	7	$221	6	$14,290
11-Jun-18	12	$6,300	8	96	8	$5,910	4	$803
6-Jun-18	13	$14,500	10	88	8	$14,154	5	$579
31-May-18	11	$4,890	10	63	8	$3,240	3	$1,790
22-May-18	15	$20,400	11	63	9	$19,808	6	$885
15-May-18	15	$4,700	15	106	10	$3,900	5	$643
9-May-18	11	$1,400	13	88	9	$1,300	2	$560
1-May-18	8	$14,250	7	88	7	$13,400	1	$450
24-Apr-18	12	$5,300	6	61	11	$4,470	1	$800
17-Apr-18	9	$1,800	10	44	7	$2,330	2	$1,434
11-Apr-18	11	$2,500	8	32	6	$1,690	5	$809
3-Apr-18	15	$13,400	11	121	9	$12,020	6	$1,090
28-Mar-18	10	$4,000	10	92	7	$3,870	3	$215
19-Mar-18	17	$5,800	13	51	10	$590	7	$5,165
12-Mar-18	15	$3,130	11	43	11	$2,360	4	$788
6-Mar-18	19	$5,400	13	116	10	$1,530	9	$4,860
27-Feb-18	20	$6,600	13	69	14	$5,530	6	$1,030
19-Feb-18	15	$5,500	14	111	10	$3,990	6	$1,980
12-Feb-18	23	$10,900	17	157	12	$7,110	11	$3,840
5-Feb-18	16	$8,600	13	100	7	$1,330	9	$7,800
30-Jan-18	11	$12,600	11	68	5	$7,300	6	$4,982
24-Jan-18	19	$9,400	15	129	5	$2,010	14	$7,337
18-Jan-18	10	$6,280	8	49	2	$2,100	8	$4,188
9-Jan-18	12	$16,500	12	92	9	$15,890	3	$475
3-Jan-18	10	$2,500	9	47	8	$2,350	2	$150
27-Dec-17	15	$9,000	15	113	9	$7,568	6	$1,784
18-Dec-17	15	$13,800	16	164	9	$13,010	7	$1,118
11-Dec-17	14	$9,700	10	126	12	$2,940	4	$8,500
4-Dec-17	6	$1,800	6	31	5	$1,510	1	$300
28-Nov-17	7	$3,850	8	76	4	$3,260	3	$285
16-Nov-17	10	$2,700	10	48	6	$1,840	4	$856
8-Nov-17	15	$2,380	17	91	10	$1,860	5	$516
1-Nov-17	12	$4,700	17	94	9	$3,400	4	$1,300
23-Oct-17	15	$10,500	10	67	10	$9,780	4	$1,530
18-Oct-17	6	$2,000		37	3	$225	3	$1,820
10-Oct-17	12	$6,570		100	9	$3,880	3	$3,360
2-Oct-17	8	$3,100	11	19	3	$1,630	5	$1,750
25-Sep-17	8	$4,880	8	79	5	$2,660	5	$2,070
18-Sep-17	9	$4,770			3	$300	6	$4,470
12-Sep-17	11	$4,430			8	$2,030	3	$2,400
1-Sep-17	4	$1,310			3	$317	1	$1,000
23-Aug-17	11	$13,640	9		8	$11,840	3	$1,800

M&A/FINANCINGS

Noble, Maersk Drilling agree to merge in $3.4B deal

Deal Description: Denmark’s Maersk Drilling and U.S. rival Noble Corp. agreed to merge in a $3.4 billion deal to form one of the world’s largest offshore oil drilling rig companies. The combination is expected to book annual cost savings of $125 million. It will take the Noble name and be headquartered in Houston with ownership split roughly 50:50 between the two companies’ shareholders. Maersk Drilling shareholders may elect to receive cash instead of shares for up to $1,000 each subject to an aggregate cap of $50 million.

Noble’s Financial Advisors: Ducera Partners and DNB Bank

Noble’s Outside Counsel: Kirkland & Ellis, Plesner Advokatpartnerselskab and Travers Smith; Kirkland’s team was led by Sean Wheeler, Debbie Yee, Doug Bacon and Cephas Sekhar, antitrust partners Chuck Boyars and Michael Engel, tax partners David Wheat, William Dong and Mike Carew, executive compensation partner Rob Fowler and debt finance partners Rachel Lichman and Chad Davis. 

Maersk’s Financial Advisor: J.P. Morgan Securities

Maersk Drilling’s Outside Counsel: Davis Polk & Wardwell London and Gorrissen Federspiel Advokatpartnerselskab

Notes: Kirkland’s Wheeler advised Noble on its acquisition of Pacific Drilling Co. for all stock in March.

FirstEnergy sheds 19.9% in FET to Brookfield for $2.4B, sells $1B in equity to Blackstone

Deal Description: Akron-based FirstEnergy on Nov. 7 announced a definitive agreement with Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners to sell a 19.9% stake in FirstEnergy Transmission for $2.4 billion in cash as part of $3.4 billion in equity financings. The systems include American Transmission, Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission and Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Co. FirstEnergy said the deal represents an attractive electric utility valuation of 40 times price-to-earnings ratio for the last 12 months, a 50% premium to the median for utility sector transactions. The transaction must approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. FirstEnergy also agreed to issue $1 billion of common equity to Blackstone Infrastructure Partners at $39.08 per share to support FirstEnergy’s smart grid and clean energy transition initiatives. Blackstone will place a director on FirstEnergy’s board.

Brookfield’s Outside Counsel: Skadden led by M&A partner Eric Otness, among other attorneys in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Palo Alto and New York.

Blackstone’s Outside Counsel: Latham & Watkins led in part by Houston partner Ravi Purohit 

FirstEnergy’s Financial Advisors: Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities to the company, Moelis to the board

FirstEnergy’s Outside Counsel: Jones Day

Notes: Skadden’s Otness has advised Brookfield on other investments in the energy sector, including Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ acquisition of co-controlling interests in two natural gas pipelines in Mexico from affiliates of BlackRock in 2019 for $550 million. Latham’s Purohit counseled Blackstone Infra on its $10 billion take-private acquisition of QTS Realty Trust, among other matters. He used to be in-house at Blackstone Infra as well as Alinda Capital, another client, and practiced at Skadden and Simpson Thacher.

CooperCompanies acquires fertility products provider for $1.6B

Deal Description: The CooperCompanies, a California-headquartered medical device company, said Nov. 12 that it agreed to acquire Generate Life Sciences, a provider of eggs and sperm for fertility treatments as well as cryopreservation and storage of blood and tissue for stem cell procedures. The cost to CooperCompanies was reported at $1.6 billion.

In-House Counsel: GC Margaret Howell led the transaction for Generate Life Sciences.

Seller Outside Legal Counsel: Generate Life Sciences, based in Los Angeles, was advised by Morgan Lewis with a team led from Houston by corporate partner Sameer Mohan and healthcare partner Banee Pachuca. The rest of the ML team included healthcare, employment, litigation and regulatory lawyers from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.

Buyer Outside Legal Counsel:  Latham & Watkins advised CooperCompanies.

Allegiance Bank, CommunityBank join forces in Houston

Deal Description: In what was termed a “merger of equals” the parent companies of Allegiance Bank and CommunityBank of Texas have agreed to combine. Shareholders of Allegiance Bancshares are to receive 1.4184 shares of CBTX Inc. resulting in a combined bank holding company that represents the 17th largest share of deposits in Texas. At closing, the new company is expected to report a tangible common equity ratio of more than 9.5%. Allegiance shareholders will own about 54% of the new company. Both are based in Houston. The combination will have $11 billion in assets and a market capitalization of about $1.5 billion.

Financial Advisors: Matt Paramore at Raymond James advised Allegiance; Kade Machen at Stephens Inc. advised CBTX.

CBTX Outside Legal Counsel: Chet Fenimore and Jeremy Lemmon of Fenimore Kay Harrison advised CBTX. Also advising CBTX was a team from Norton Rose Fulbright led by Mike Keeley.

Allegiance Outside Legal Counsel: Bracewell advised Allegiance with a team led from Dallas by Josh McNulty and from Houston by Jason Jean. The Texas team also included Will Anderson (Houston), Rebecca Baker (Houston), Matthew Grunert (Houston) and Timothy Wilkins (Austin). Also assisting were associates Shannon Baldwin, Kate Barrington McGregor, Jay N. Larry, Margo McEntire, Meredith Grant, Kathy Witty Medford, Claire E. Cahoon, all in Houston, with Daniel Pope in Austin.

Zix Corp. to be acquired by OpenText for $860M

Deal Description: Dallas-based Zix Corp. — a developer of email encryption software for businesses — announced Nov. 8 that it has agreed to be acquired by OpenText, a Canadian business software company, for $860 million. OpenText said the acquisition is part of its plan to create a “powerhouse SMB platform” of software services and technologies for small to medium businesses.

Financial Advisor to Target: A Citi team advised Zix. Niall Cannon and David Locala led the effort.

Seller Outside Legal Counsel: Zix is advised by Baker Botts with a team led by Dallas partners Don McDermett and Grant Everett. They were assisted on the corporate side by partner Justin Hoffman in Houston and Dallas corporate associates Rusty Shellhorn, Trevor Borg and Will Brown. On tax matters partners Steve Marcus and associate Snow Rui advised from Dallas. Partner Steve Mann advised on data privacy issues and partner Jennifer Trulock advised on labor and employment matters, both from Dallas.

In House Counsel: Noah Webster, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, is a former litigation partner at Kirkland. Webster led the $275 million Zix acquisition of AppRiver from Marlin Equity Partners, which closed in February 2019. Baker Botts, longtime outside counsel to Zix, advised on the $100 PIPE funding to help finance the purchase. McDermett also led that effort, along with partner Mollie Duckworth, who recently moved to Latham & Watkins.

ADT expands residential footprint with $825M acquisition of Sunpro Solar

Deal Description: Boca Raton-based home security provider ADT announced Nov. 9 an agreement to acquire Sunpro Solar of Mandeville, La., for $160 million in cash plus approximately 77.8 million shares of ADT common stock, implying an enterprise value of $825 million. ADT will rebrand Sunpro with the name ADT Solar, marking its entry into the rooftop solar business. Founded in 2008, Sunpro is ranked second for residential rooftop solar contractors in the U.S. after Titan Solar, according to Solar Power World.

Expected Closing: Year-end 2021

ADT’s Financial Advisor: Citi

ADT’s Outside Counsel: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius out of Boston and New York

Sunpro’s Financial Advisor: Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

Sunpro’s Outside Counsel: Vinson & Elkins led by partners Sarah Morgan and Mike Saslaw and senior associate Michael Gibson with assistance from associates JP Lopez and Christina Wu. Other team members included counsel Julia Petty (executive compensation/benefits); counsel Sarah Mitchell (insurance); and partners John Lynch and Lina Dimachkieh and senior associate Peter Rogers (tax).

New Mexico solar manufacturer to acquire Spanish firm

Deal Description: New Mexico’s Array Technologies — one of the largest manufacturers of utility-grade solar tracking systems — announced Nov. 11 that it has agreed to acquire Soluciones Técnicas Integrales Norland, a Spanish manufacturer of such systems. Terms of the agreement include a price tag of about $649 million, including $407 million in cash and 13.9 million shares of Array common stock. Array expects that the combined business will generate in excess of $200 million of adjusted EBITDA in 2022, before any synergies.

Expected Closing: First quarter of 2022.

Array Financial Advisor: Guggenheim Securities.

Array Outside Legal Counsel: Kirkland & Ellis advised Array with a team led by Houston corporate partners Rhett Van Syoc and London-based partner David Higgins. The team also included  London partner Tom McCarthy and Houston associates Zach Savrick and Michael Bassi, capital markets partners Michael Kim and Michael Rigdon advised from New York and Houston along with Dallas associate Logan Weissler, Houston debt finance partner Andy Veit, and litigation partner Meghan Dolan from Chicago.

Notes: Although headquartered in Pampalona, STI Norland has a significant presence in South America, including the fast-growing market for solar power in Brazil. Solar trackers, as the name suggests, help maximize the efficiency of solar panels by resetting them against the changing direction of sunlight. Array is based in Albuquerque, NM.

Inspiration secures $200M from ArcLight

Deal Description: Inspiration, a solutions company to finance electric vehicles and build, own and operate the charging infrastructure enabling the EV transition, announced its launch securing an initial $200 million capital commitment from ArcLight Energy Partners Fund VII. In connection with ArcLight’s investment, Inspiration entered into an EV fleet lease partnership with ridehail innovator Revel.

Inspiration’s Outside Counsel: Latham & Watkins led by Houston partner Justin Stolte with assistance from New York partners on fleet leasing matters, a Washington, D.C., partner on employment matters and Houston partner Jim Cole and a New York partner on tax matters. Houston associates Katie Walker and Marianne Standley also played roles on the transactional team.

ArcLight’s In-House Counsel: Associate General Counsel Christine Miller in Boston

ArcLight’s Outside Counsel: Orrick, including partner Blake Winburne in Houston

Notes: Since returning to Latham from Gibson Dunn last year, Stolte has made a name for himself advising on energy transition matters, counseling Alder Fuels on its multimillion-dollar backing by United and Honeywell and Quanta Services Inc. on its $2.7 billion acquisition of renewable energy provider Blattner Holding Co. in September.

San Joaquin Renewables snags $165M from Cresta, Silverpeak

Deal Description: Sidley said Nov. 8 it is representing Dallas-based Cresta Fund Management and Silverpeak Energy Partners on its agreement with San Joaquin Renewables to invest up to $165 million to develop and construct a biomass-to-renewable natural gas project near McFarland, California. Frontline BioEnergy is developing the project, which will take orchard residuals and shells from San Joaquin Valley farms and convert them into RNG to be sold as transportation fuel. When completed, the facility will replace open burning of agricultural waste that will produce a non-fossil form of natural gas, capture and store carbon dioxide and serve as a substitute to diesel.

Cresta’s In-House Counsel: General Counsel Benjamin Nelson, a Duke law grad and former general counsel for the Ray L. Hunt family.

Cresta’s Outside Counsel: Sidley was led by Dallas partners Holt Foster and Marc Rose and Dallas associate Jeremy Pettit with support from partners Zack Pullin in Houston and Eric Winwood in Dallas, counsel Lauren Grau in Dallas and Dallas associates Bekah Maloney and Robert Uhl. Texas-based team members also included partners Dallas partner Bill Howell, Houston partners Irv Rotter and Robert Stephens and Dallas associate Marian Fielding and Houston partner Heather Palmer and and associate Allen Braddock.

Notes: Holt has previously worked with Nelson on other matters but it was his and Rose’s first time to represent Cresta.

Ensign purchases Eagle Ford shale acreage from Reliance 

Deal Description: Warburg Pincus- and Kayne Anderson-backed Ensign Natural Resources announced Nov. 8 the purchase of assets in the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas from Reliance Eagleford Upstream Holding for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition includes about 62,000 net acres in Bee, DeWitt, Karnes and Live Oak Counties and net production of around 18,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The deal increases Ensign’s ownership to 100% in the leases and wells it acquired from Pioneer Natural Resources in 2019 and Newpek in 2020. With the acquisition, Ensign owns and operates 130,000 acres in the core of the Eagle Ford with production approaching 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, making the company one of the top private operators in the basin. 

Buyer’s Outside Counsel: Sidley led by Houston partner Tim Chandler; others on the team are Houston partners Jim Rice, Daniel Allison and Zackary Pullin, Houston associates Quan Lu, Jeff Kinney and Haley Cambra and Dallas associates John Brannan III and Alejandro Ruiz.  

Buyer’s Financial Advisor: Citigroup Global Markets Inc., including Cliff Vaz in Houston 

Seller’s Outside Counsel: Gibson Dunn led by partner Michael P. Darden and included partner Jonathan Whalen and associates Graham Valenta, Zain Hassan and Adri Langemeier.

Notes: Sidley’s Chandler also represented Ensign on its acquisition of Eagle Ford assets from Pioneer in 2019 and from Newpek in 2020. Gibson Dunn’s Darden advised Reliance on the sale of its Marcellus shale position in Pennsylvania to Northern Oil and Gas earlier in the year for $250 million.

CPV acquires solar projects from Belltown Power

Deal Description: Competitive Power Ventures said Nov. 8 it completed the acquisition of two solar photovoltaic projects under development from Belltown Power USA Development for an undisclosed sum. The transaction includes the 360 megawatt Prairie Dock Solar project in Illinois and the 100 megawatt Stonecrop Solar project in Kentucky. Once operational, the two solar projects are expected to generate enough clean electricity to power around 87,000 homes. Construction will begin in the second half of 2023.

Seller’s Outside Counsel: Norton Rose Fulbright, including partner Becky Diffen, associate Geetika Jerath, partner Caileen Gamache, senior counsel Amy Mitchell, partner Julie Searle, counsel Bob Greenslade and associate Emily Meier.

Buyer’s Outside Counsel: Bracewell with most of the attorneys based in Washington, D.C.

Notes: NRF’s Diffen has represented Belltown on the sales of several solar power projects.

StorageMart acquires Manhattan MiniStorage

Deal Description: StorageMart, the largest privately-owned self-storage company in the country, announced Nov. 12 that it has agreed to acquire Manhattan MiniStorage, owners of 18 self-storage locations in New York City. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Buyer Outside Counsel: StorageMart, based in Columbia, MO, was advised by Kirkland & Ellis led by lawyers from Chicago and New York. Advising from Texas was Dallas real estate partner Camille Bacon-Schulte.

Notes: Bacon-Schulte, a Cornell Law product, came to Kirkland as a real estate associate from Denton’s in May and last month made partner.

CAPITAL MARKETS

Rivian Automotive Prices IPO at $11.9B

Deal Description: In what the Dealbook called “the biggest U.S. stock debut in years,” the EV truck maker Rivian opened its $1.8 billion IPO with gains as high as 23% gain in the first day of trading. The stock closed the week at $129.95 per share and closed today (Tuesday) at nearly $180.

Issuer Outside Counsel: Latham & Watkins advised Rivian with a New York team led by Marc Jaffe.

Underwriters Counsel: Skadden

Underwriters: Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are acting as lead book-running managers for the offering. Additional underwriters include Barclays, Deutsche Bank Securities, Allen & Company, BofA Securities, Mizuho Securities and Wells Fargo Securities. Co-managers include Wolfe | Nomura Strategic Alliance, Piper Sandler, RBC Capital Markets, Baird, Wedbush Securities, Academy Securities, Blaylock Van, Cabrera Capital Markets, C.L. King & Associates, Loop Capital Markets, Ramirez & Co., Siebert Williams Shank and Tigress Financial Partners.

Investors Outside Counsel: Gibson & Dunn advised Global Oryx, the original financial sponsor of Rivian Automotive. The Gibson team was led by Stephen Olson and Hillary Holmes and included associate Stefan Koller. Partner James Chenoweth advised on tax aspects.

Notes: Global Oryx, a subsidiary of the Abdul Latif Jameel Companies, was among the original investors an remain principal stockholders in Rivian. According to its prospectus, Rivian held 48,390 pre-orders for its initial EV models, the R1T pickup and the R1S electric SUV as of the end of September. The company has received major investments by Amazon and Ford in its prototype technologies and is planning a major thrust into the commercial and “last mile” delivery markets.

Phillips 66 completes $1B offering of notes

Deal Description: Phillips 66 completed Nov. 10 a $1 billion offering of 3.30% 30-year notes due March 15, 2052. The company will use the proceeds with cash on hand to redeem $1 billion of 4.30% notes due April 2022, of which $2 billion is outstanding. Phillips 66 last tapped the market in November 2020, when it placed a $1.75 billion, three-part offering across a floating-rate tranche due February 202, according top S&P Global. 

Issuer’s Outside Counsel: Bracewell led in part by partner Will Anderson in Houston with counsel Ian R. Brown and associate Brandon A. Bucio in Dallas.

Notes: Bracewell’s Anderson also represented Phillips 66 when it issued three series of senior notes worth $1.75 billion.

Kinder Morgan issues $800M in senior notes

Deal Description: Kinder Morgan Inc. closed Nov. 9 a public offering of $800 million of 1.750% senior notes due 2026 and 3.600% senior notes due 2051.

Underwriters: Credit Suisse, Mizhuo Securities, PNC Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Securities

In-House Counsel: Angela S. Teer, Kinder Morgan’s assistant general counsel

Issuer’s Outside Counsel: Bracewell including partners Troy L. Harder and Will Anderson with associates Kathy Witty Medford, Jay N. Larry and Caroline E. Ellis

Underwriters’ Outside Counsel: Hunton Andrews Kurth led by partners Mike O’Leary and Taylor Landry with the assistance of associates Mike Hoffman, Erin Jennings, Casey Shaw and Hannah Bradley. Partner Robert McNamara and associate Tim Strother handled tax matters and partner Lisa Shelton handled environmental matters

Notes: Kinder Morgan has been a longtime client of Bracewell’s.

The Southern Co. issues $600M in new bonds

Deal Description: Southern Co., a holding company for operating utility and power companies throughout the southeastern U.S., issued $600 million in a new series of senior bonds on Nov. 11. The bonds were sold at 100%.

Book-Runner: BofA Securities and RBC Capital Markets were co-book runners.

Issuer Outside Legal Advisor: HuntonAK advised Southern Co. on the issue from their New York office. Advice on tax matters was provided by Houston partner Robert McNamara with tax associate Tim Strother.

ZenBusiness closed Series C funding with $200 million

Deal Description: Austin-based ZenBusiness, a SaaS platform designed to guide emerging businesses — as well as gig workers, consultants, real estate investors, artists and freelancers — through their various points of growth, announced the close of a $200 million Series C funding round that valued the company at $1.7 billion. The company

Outside Counsel: Latham & Watkins advised ZenBusiness with a team led by Austin partner Jenifer Smith supported by associates from Chicago and Boston.

Fund Leaders: The funding round was led by Oak HC/FT with backing from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and existing investors Cathay Innovation and Greycroft.

Investor Counsel: Jones Day said it advised GreatPoint Ventures as one of the existing investors in ZenBusiness. The Jones Day effort was led by Silicon Valley partner Tim Curry.

Note: In a $55 million Series B funding last year, ZenBusiness was advised by Vinson & Elkins. Cathay Innovation led that earlier round.

Colgate prices $200M private offering of additional senior notes

Deal Description: Pearl Energy Investments- and NGP.-backed Colgate Energy Partners III announced Nov. 8 the pricing of its private offering to eligible purchasers of $200 million worth of 5.875% senior notes due 2029. The notes mature on July 1, 2029, pay interest at 5.875% per year and were priced at 101.75%, which implies an effective yield to worst of 5.441%. These are additional notes under an indenture Colgate issued on June 30, 2021, worth $500 million. The offered notes have identical terms as the existing notes. Colgate intends to use the net proceeds to fully repay amounts outstanding under its revolving credit facility and to fund a portion of the $190 million purchase price for the acquisition of assets in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico, announced Nov. 7.

Issuer’s Outside Counsel: Vinson & Elkins led by partners Doug McWilliams and David Stone with assistance from senior associate Jackson O’Maley and associates Nate Richards and Delery Perret. Also advising were partners Wendy Salinas and Jim Meyer and associate Jeff Slusher (tax); partner Matt Dobbins and associate Austin Pierce (environmental); and associate Erin Webb (finance).

Notes: V&E’s McWilliams and Stone also counseled on the original notes.

Arena Fortify Acquisition Sets IPO at $150M

Deal Description: Arena Fortify Acquisition Corp., a blank check company sponsored by Daniel Zwirn’s Arena Investors, announced pricing of its IPO at $150 million. The company plans to focus on combining with a distressed “natural resources” company emerging from bankruptcy or a promising one or one badly in need of capital investment.

Outside Counsel: Arena Fortify Acquisition Corp. tapped Kirkland with an all-Texas team led by Houston capital markets partner Julian Seiguer, along with associates Billy Vranish, Kristin Kluding and Sam Roberts. Pitching in were corporate partners Shubi Arora and Jhett Nelson and associate Jenna McCord, along with investment funds partners Matthew Nadworny and Ian Jelsma.

Underwriters: Cowen and Intrepid Partners were joint book-running managers for the offering.

Underwriters’ Counsel: Vinson & Elkins advised the underwriters with a team led from Houston by Ramey Layne and Alan Beck, with assistance from associates Markeya Brown and Sydney Verner. Also advising were partner Jason McIntosh, senior associate Paige Anderson and associate Christina McLeod (tax).

CSI Compressco raises $57M in private placements of common units

Deal Description: CSI Compressco announced Nov. 10 the execution of agreements resulting in a series of transactions that enable the partnership to redeem all its outstanding senior unsecured notes due 2022. They include raising $57 million in private placements of common units and CSI’s acquisition of the primary operating business of Spartan Energy Partners in an all equity transaction.

Issuer’s Outside Counsel: Vinson & Elkins led by partner Dave Oelman and senior associate Raleigh Wolfe as well as associates Alex Lewis, Stuart Lawson, Zac Horne, Phil Greenfield and Patrick Reintjes. Other key team members included partners Bailey Pham and James Longhofer and associates Arthur Munoz and Ariel Guerrero-Stewart (finance); partners Jim Meyer and Ryan Carney and associate Maddie Brown (tax); and counsel Rajesh Patel and associate Alexa Chally (technology transactions/IP).

Financial Advisor to conflicts committee of CSI Compressco GP’s board: Evercore

Legal advisor to Evercore: Bracewell partner Will Anderson

Legal advisor to conflicts committee of CSI Compressco GP’s board: Shearman & Sterling, including partner Bill Nelson in Houston