Update – Exclusive Data: Texas M&A & Securities Offerings Continue to Plunge in 2016

© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.By Natalie Posgate and Mark Curriden (May 6) – Merger and acquisition activity for Texas-based companies was bad in 2015, but it has been even worse so far in 2016. Corporate deal-making in Texas plunged eight percent during the first quarter of 2016 compared to one year earlier and it was down about 40 percent from the peak of M&A in 2014, according to data provided exclusively to The Texas Lawbook by independent M&A research firm Mergermarket. At the same time, the capital markets closed for most Texas business, especially those in the energy sector. The number of initial public offerings this year plummeted to the lowest levels since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009, while the number of equity and debt offerings for Texas businesses is down 56 percent from one year ago, according to data from The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker.“It’s such a bad quarter that deals struck last year are falling apart,” said Chad Watt, an analyst with Mergermarket in Dallas. Three of the largest corporate transactions of 2014 and 2015 – Dallas-based Energy Transfer Equity’s $38 billion proposed acquisition of Tulsa-based Williams Companies, Energy Future Holdings’ attempted sale of…