Q&A with mergermarket’s Chad Watt, the M&A Expert

© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.(January 23) – Chad Watt is an M&A analyst and editor with mergermarket, an independent global research firm associated with the Financial Times. Chad also is the most knowledgeable M&A analyst and journalist in Texas. No one follows M&A activity in Texas like Chad. So, we sat down with him to pick his brain on energy transactions. The Texas Lawbook: Which M&A trends stand out to you over the past five years? Chad Watt: In 2008 and into 2009, we saw the first wave of “fuel-switching,” as natural gas prices remained low and oil prices scooted toward $100 a barrel. That led to wave after wave of upstream companies switching their focus from natural gas (in the Barnett Shale and similar fields in Louisiana and Arkansas) to more oil-rich provinces, such as the Permian Basin. The Texas Lawbook: How did M&A change in 2013? Chad Watt: Midstream deal activity took center stage as the natural follow-up to the development of oil and gas fields in previously dormant regions. New pipeline networks and related processing facilities need to be built. The people who funded that construction and lined up contracts to fill the pipes spent much of…