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The Texas deal numbers are in for the first half of 2023, and according to The Texas Lawbook's exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker they aren't especially pretty. But beneath the surface lies a sense among Texas dealmakers that the money is still there, that investors are more disciplined and that deals with legs are simply more complicated and creative and, above all, still part of a vibrant economic pipeline.
A new report from Refinitiv suggests that bankers are hurting these days. Investment banking fees are down during the first six months of 2023 — off 18 percent from 2022, year-over-year, and the lowest since 2016. Advisory fees from M&A fared even worse. The culprits include U.S. involved M&A, which has been lagging in both volume and value. The Lawbook's Claire Poole looks at the underlying stats, including a few sectors that have thrived, even during the current lag — and, of course, the usual roll call of deals reported by Texas lawyers last week.
Deals are down across the globe, according to Refinitiv. In the U.S. the view is a little more complicated. In Texas, it's a lot more complicated — but in a good way. The CDT Roundup has the numbers for you to consider, along with the usual rundown of last week's deals.
While the CDT Roundup has noted the part played by Texas lawyers at Vinson & Elkins and Kirkland & Ellis on behalf of PE giants KKR and Blackstone, another has raised its hand: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. This week's Roundup notes the seven deals involving Texas bar card holders at the vaunted New York white shoe firm. As always there's the usual rundown of transactions reported last week, along with the names of the firms and lawyers attached to them.
With oil prices both up and stable Bryan Loocke of Vinson & Elkins has been as busy as any Houston energy lawyer. The CDT Roundup decided it was time to Q&A him: about his most recent deals, renewables and what he sees happening over the rest of the year. You can even learn what he's been reading, along with the usual list of firms and names of the lawyers who reported their deals last week.
While the economy is encountering stress in some areas, some firms are reporting high levels of activity for their Texas corporate lawyers during the first months of 2023. One of them is Dykema, and the Corporate Deal Tracker Roundup this week peeks at what their five Texas locations have been up to. Of course, it wouldn't be a roundup without rounding up the names of lawyers and firms that reported 20 deals worth $3.3 billion last week. There was even an IPO sighting — and a standard IPO at that.
On what he later described as his best day as GC of Cactus Inc., a Houston-based wellhead and pressure-control provider, Will Marsh brought in the $621 million acquisition of tubing manufacturer FlexSteel Technologies Holdings.
The transformational deal marked a pretty good day for Cactus, as well. And now Marsh, Cactus and Bracewell, their outside counsel, are finalists in the 2023 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards for M&A Transaction of the Year.
All too often commercial tenants accept their lease agreements freely and without any objections. However, a one-time review of the lease can lead to years of savings.
Like "energy transition" before it, the word "infrastructure" has worked its way into dealmaking vocabulary as a significant buzzword. But buzzwords can buzz with real money behind them as a new McKinsey report suggests. Funds earmarked for infrastructure and natural resources investment hit $158 billion last year and such assets under management last year were up more than 14 percent over 2021, according to the report. Claire Poole takes a look at the short- and long-term for infrastructure dealmaking, and it's more complicated than it seems. But at least one infrastructure deal among the dozen transactions reported to the CDT Roundup last week shows that the numbers can be really, really big.
In an in-depth Q&A with The Lawbook, Mark Solomon shares a few of the office's major successes, identifies significant challenges facing the firm, surveys the lay of the land for deal activity and shares his favorite features of the new digs at PwC Tower. Plus, a windup about those damn Yankees as baseball returns.
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