Kirkland, Baker Botts, V&E and Slew of Firms Involved in $19 billion Oncor Sale

© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.By Mark Curriden (Aug. 11) – Energy Future Holdings’ sale of Oncor, its power transmission business, to a consortium of New York-based hedge funds and Hunt Consolidated is the biggest and most complex corporate transaction in Texas in 2015. EFH’s decision to sell to Oncor is viewed as a huge step in the Dallas-based company proceeding forward in bankruptcy. The hedge funds, led by Anchorage Capital Group and Arrowgrass Partners, are paying $12 billion. Hunt is paying an estimated $7 billion. The pure size of the acquiring consortium added complexity to the transaction. The negotiations have been underway between the groups for more than six months, but really came together during the past six weeks. Lawyers and investment bankers involved in the transaction say that EFH General Counsel Stacey Doré and EFH Deputy GC Andy Wright led the transaction, along with Kirkland & Ellis partners Andrew Calder and Amber Meek in Houston. Hunt is advised by Baker Botts partner Geoffrey Newton, who is a corporate M&A partner in the firm’s Dallas office. Other Baker Botts partners involved in the deal from the Dallas office are Lucky McDowell, William Howell, Preston Burnhisel, Steve Marcus, Eric Winwood, and…