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Historically, Texas dealmaking has run on energy. But dealmaking, in turn, runs on optimism. And if the new Dykema Survey of M&A dealmakers is any measure, there will be much to celebrate this time next year. The CDT Roundup looks at the survey's surprising results as well the deals involving Texas lawyers last week. There were plenty of them.
Big and bad is not always good, as evidenced by some of the recent down-sizing, realigning and unloading taking place among the elite corporations: think GE, AT&T, etc. So, who's next in Texas? Meanwhile, a new Haynes and Boone survey suggests that increased oil patch optimism has bankers likely to increase borrowing bases. All that and $26.7 billion in deals are part of this week's Roundup.
More than a few recent deals are highlighting two things: the return of $80 oil and the importance of the Haynesville natural gas play. The Lawbook's Claire Poole takes a look at why the East Texas/northern Louisiana play is so hot of late. And, as always, there's our regular review of last week's M&A and CapM transactions.
ESG is gaining the same kind of investment cachet that socially responsible investing did in the 60s. And according to the data firm Preqin, that cachet has reached a noticeable level of demand from investors — to the tune of $3.1 trillion in capital assets managed by firms committed to ESG investing. More on that and last week's Texas transactions in the CDT Roundup.
With oil prices up 40% since spring, it's not surprising that there is modest optimism among O&G industry watchers that producers will see increases in borrowing strength in both the credit and exchange markets. The 14th edition of Haynes and Boone's Borrowing Base Redeterminations Survey predicts as much, but with some surprising differences between producers and bankers. The CDT Roundup has those details, as well as last week's deals.
Since recovering from the demand shock wrought by the pandemic, upstream energy M&A is suddenly "red hot," according to Andrew Dittmar, a director at Enverus. With oil sitting at prices unseen since 2014, both value and mood is ripe for vigorous dealing in Q4, particularly among those holding smaller assets. Think consolidation. Details are in this week's CDT Roundup.
Oil pricing hit a high unseen in nearly seven years, and energy deals seemed suddenly a thing again. It may be a passing moment, but one worth noting in this week's CDT Roundup.
In a deal that received some notice in October 2019, Houston's Kraton Corp. sold off one of its signature polymer businesses, Cariflex, to a Korean concern. This week, Kraton itself was acquired by that same Korean industrial company in the Corporate Deal Tracker Deal of the Week.
The Texas Lawbook is sharing some changes for readers to be aware of heading into the fall. And in last week's transactions, Texas lawyers took part in a few SPAC IPOs, a proposed juggernaut of a Permian Basin asset sale and a handful of capital commitments.
Hunton Andrews Kurth's Jordan Hirsch and Mike O'Leary look into their crystal balls at what's ahead for M&A through the end of the year and how we got here. And in this week's Roundup, more than 90 Texas-based lawyers took part in $16.6 billion worth of deals.
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