Chris May: The Biggest Moneymaker in 2015 M&A

© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.By Natalie Posgate (Feb. 9) – Last May, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett partner Chris May advised Houston-based Crestwood Equity in its $7.5 billion merger with its midstream affiliate, Crestwood Midstream Partners. That was the smallest deal he handled last year. In October, he led Walgreens’ $17.2 billion purchase of Rite Aid. That still wasn’t the biggest deal he handled.Later that same month, May worked on the mother of them all. He helped Round Rock-based Dell purchase EMC, the world’s largest data storage provider, for $67 billion. It was the largest deal handled by a Texas-based lawyer. CNBC ranked the Dell-EMC merger as the sixth largest deal in 2015. Behind all these deals is a guy who had not even spent a significant time in Texas before he moved here three years ago from Simpson Thacher’s New York headquarters to the firm’s relatively new Houston office. Another disclaimer: May just turned 39 in November and only made partner at Simpson Thacher two years ago. Needless to say, May is finding Texas to be a good home. He ranks No. 1 across the state in deal value by individual lawyer – and by a lot. Last year, May…