Deals in the Oil Patch Still Reign Supreme for Texas Lawyers
Corporate lawyers in Texas have been exceptionally busy over the last 13 months, as the surge in mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures within the oil patch remains robust.
Correction — Revised CDT 2023 M&A Law Firm Rankings
Last week, The Texas Lawbook published the exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker ranking of law firms whose Texas lawyers handled the most mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures in 2023. Unfortunately, we missed 65 M&A transactions done by three law firms that were submitted to the CDT at the end of the year. We accidentally recorded one transaction as a $4 million deal when it was for $4 billion. The Lawbook withdrew the article from publication as soon as we recognized our error.
Texas lawyers at 19 firms worked on 25 or more deals in 2023. Eight law firms — Akin, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Haynes Boone, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Sidley Austin, Vinson & Elkins and White & Case — reported their lawyers in Texas worked on 50 or more transactions. Four law firms had lawyers in their Texas offices work on 100 or more M&A deals last year. The Texas attorneys at only two firms recorded total 2023 deal counts at 150 or more and deal values exceeding $150 billion. And the Austin, Dallas and Houston lawyers for a single law firm were lead or co-lead legal advisors for the buyers, sellers or targets in 140 deals — nearly twice as many as any other law firm, according to CDT data.
Finance Attorneys Navigate Active Texas Municipal Bond Market Amid ESG
A strong Texas municipal bond market and continued questions around state regulations related to environmental, social and governance policy kept Texas public finance attorneys busy last year.
IRS Leans “Green” — Much-Awaited Section 45V Guidance Creates New Opportunities for Hydrogen Markets
The proposed regulations address many gating questions, including providing rules for determining lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions rates resulting from hydrogen production processes and the introduction of qualified “energy attribute certificates” to ensure feedstock electricity source eligibility.
2023 M&A: A Statistical Elephant and a Parallax View
Texas-related M&A data for 2023 compiled from The Texas Lawbook's exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker reveals a strangely successful year — even a record year in some quarters. A record number of Texas-related deals were reported: 1,225 mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures with an aggregate value of $739.7 billion. That's a 13.2 percent climb in deal volume over 2022 (1,082) and more than double year-over-year values ($367.1 billion).
Updated — Weil, V&E, Wachtell, Sidley and Bracewell Advise on $7.3B Texas Energy Deal
Dallas-based fuel distribution giant Sunoco LP announced it intends to purchase pipeline and terminal company NuStar Energy in an all-equity transaction valued at approximately $7.3 billion.
One Guess on Which Firm Led the Most Billion-Dollar M&A Deals in Texas in 2023
Texas lawyers for 29 law firms worked on 130 M&A deals in 2023 that had deal values of $1 billion or more. Twenty-two of those firms were the lead legal advisors for the buyers, sellers or targets, according to new data from The Texas Lawbook's exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker. A handful of Texas lawyers — Sean Wheeler, Debbie Yee, Ryan Maierson and Steve Gill — led or co-led more billion-dollar-plus transactions than any other lawyers. In fact, the four deal lawyers — all partners in Houston —led more transactions than 25 of the 29 firms on the list. But it was Dallas lawyer Jeff Chapman who landed the biggest deal of 2023. The Lawbook has the details.
CDT Roundup: 17 Deals, 12 Firms, 256 Lawyers, $33.6B
As Sir Mix-A-Lot might note if he was writing about M&A instead hip-hop fundament, "We like big numbers and we cannot lie." As a result, we decided to continue our look at 2023's remarkable run of billion-dollar deals, and whether inflation inflated our numbers. That and the usual roster of transactions reported last week.
Akin, V&E Lead Nearly $1B Deal Between 7-Eleven, Sunoco
7-Eleven Inc. has agreed to purchase 204 stores hat include the Stripes and Laredo Taco Company brands from Sunoco LP. With locations primarily in New Mexico, Oklahoma and West Texas, the stores will join 7-Eleven’s more than 13,000-store portfolio. The purchase, valued at a reported $950 million, is the latest expansion for the convenience store giant. Akin, led by Thomas Yang and Ashton Barrineau Butcher, advised 7-Eleven on the deal, while Vinson & Elkins team, steered by Lande Spottswood and Yong Eoh, advised Dallas-based master limited partnership Sunoco.
2023 — The Year of Billion-Dollar M&A Deals in Texas
The size of a deal may not always be an indicator of its success, but 2023 in Texas will certainly go down in history as the year of some massive billion-dollar transactions. Despite the fact that the global M&A market saw a 17 percent decline in value and 6 percent decline in volume, Texas had the distinction of leading the world with the two largest megadeals: ExxonMobil's $64.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's $60 billion purchase of Hess Corp. Even ONEOK's $18 billion acquisition of Magellan Midstream Partners made it to the top dozen deals worldwide, as Texas demonstrated its energy prowess across the globe.