Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
AES Corp. has agreed to be acquired by a consortium that includes a BlackRock unit, Swedish investor EQT Group, CalPERS and the Qatar Investment Authority for $15 a share cash. The companies said the offer represents a 40 percent premium to AES Corp.’s 30-day average stock price prior to July 8 when the deal was first announced.
Kirkland, Skadden, Davis Polk and Simpson Thacher advised on the deal.
For the week ended Feb. 28, the CDT Roundup saw 11 deals reported with a total value of about $7.3 billion. The deal count sits at par with the prior week’s 11 and the year-ago 11, while last week’s valuations up slightly from $7.1 billion the week before and more than double last year’s $3 billion.
The M&A shortlist included two billion-dollar-plus transactions. Others were energy-adjacent, involving the sale of deepwater vessels and power generation assets.
That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
Matthew N. Hudnall and Allan S. Katz have joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as partners in the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group, reinforcing its real estate development, finance, fund formation and joint venture capabilities.
Coming up, the Association of Corporate Counsel DFW Chapter and the Texas General Counsel Forum will mark International Women’s Day on March 8 with a screening of A Law Unto Themselves: How Women Lawyers of Dallas Transformed Law and Community – Together. Produced by the Dallas Women Lawyers Association and J.L. Turner Legal Association, the film is currently available only through small screenings hosted by member organizations, making this an exclusive opportunity to view it.
Also in this edition of P.S., the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston celebrated the addition of former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman to the nameplate at Wright Close Barger & Guzman and Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr offered a look at its 2025 charitable giving. The Texas Lawbook invites law firms and corporate legal departments to share their annual financial contributions to public service and the community for feature consideration.
Dania Duncan Moreno, a real estate partner, has joined Duane Morris in Dallas from Bell Nunnally & Martin. She will focus her practice on domestic and cross-border real estate and corporate transactions, including hospitality, retail, industrial and residential projects in Texas and Mexico.
Savannah Hostetter Benac, a partner at Shackelford, McKinley & Norton, and her husband, Dylan Benac, a corporate lawyer in Bracewell’s Houston office, found a rare opportunity to work together professionally on a pro bono matter for a client they care deeply about. The litigator and deals lawyer helped lead a real estate transaction that allowed Radiate Coalition to acquire a seven-acre property near Houston valued at approximately $2.5 million, which the nonprofit plans to redevelop into a transitional home for girls aging out of the Texas foster care system.
At 7:04 a.m. Feb. 11, about two-and-a-half hours before testimony was set to resume in the first jury trial in the Texas Business Court, Judge Sofia Adrogué received a text message from a bailiff.
“Good morning Judge,” Deputy James Williams’ text began. “Hate to bring you bad news this morning. …”
The trial, intended to showcase the new court, suddenly became an exercise in crisis management. This is the behind-the-scenes story of the court’s inaugural jury trial that was filled with other unexpected firsts.
In this edition of Asked & Answered, Hilgers partner David Sillers talks about his First Amendment practice and shares his most memorable moments in his career so far. Sillers recently joined the firm and reunited with managing partner Grant Schmidt and partner Cynthia Schmidt, whom he met while clerking alongside them for former U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn.
CECO Environmental Corp. and Thermon Group Holdings announced an agreement to merge in a stock and cash transaction valued at about $2.2 billion.
Gibson Dunn and Sidley advised on the deal.
A federal judge sentenced a Plano orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Michael Taba, to 8.5 years in prison for his role in one of the biggest healthcare fraud cases in Texas history that prosecutors said bilked the U.S. government out of nearly $200 million through unnecessary compound drug prescriptions.
U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay handed down the sentence on Tuesday in Dallas after a jury convicted Taba more than two years ago of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and three counts of aiding and abetting healthcare fraud.
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