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Last week, notable transactions included a $9.8 billion AI platform deal, $1.3 billion in two deals by Mach Resources and the sale of The Dallas Morning News to Hearst. The week ending July 12 saw 15 deals valued at just over $13 billion dollars. The week prior, there were nine deals for $15.8 billion and this time last year there were 20 deals for $17.2 billion.
Chevron’s $53 billion acquisition of Hess remains in limbo despite FTC approval, which barred the son of Hess’ founder from a Chevron board seat due to antitrust concerns and alleged OPEC collusion. The merger’s fate hinges on an arbitration decision that could be announced soon with ExxonMobil over Hess’ stake in Guyana’s lucrative Stabroek Block. Meanwhile, CITGO, formerly Venezuelan-owned, saw a new winning bid in a Delaware court auction to settle expropriation claims.
For the week ending June 28, there were a dozen deals valued at nearly $7.8 billion: six in M&A and funding; six in capital markets and credit. But rather than compare that with last week's 16 deals for $6 billion or the 14 deals for $6.3 billion this time last year, let's compare these deals with each other. All in all, it was a curiously complicated week.
Yes, the streak is still alive: for five weeks in a row transactions have totaled more than $20 billion. The menu of deals reported last week was heavy on power and energy entrees. There was a $19 billion merger of fluid motion control products. A simpler $4 billion upstream deal. A midstream JV buyout. Another JV formed. And a whole new energy E&P funded with some familiar faces. A deal for emergency power grid infrastructure services. And another for a power plant rehab firm. But there were also some interesting side dishes.
The week ending May 31 saw 19 deals reported involving Texas businesses or Texas lawyers. They were valued at $23.4 billion, representing the fourth week in a row reporting transactions valued at a total of $20 billion or more. Last week, we saw 15 deals for $24 billion. And this time last year, there were 12 transactions for $34 billion. And it was a week that was more than usually unusual.
In this edition of CDT Roundup, the week ending May 24 saw 15 deals reported for a total of $24 billion. The week prior saw 16 deals for $21.7 billion. In fact, it's the third week in a row we tallied $20 billion or more for transactions handled by Texas lawyers. And that's the first time that's happened since we started keeping these stats for deals reported to the CDT Roundup. It's also the first time we've seen three consecutive weeks of $10 billion or more since the three weeks the third quarter of 2024.
It was a week could be easily and properly labeled "Infrastructure Week." Of the 10 M&A transactions reported last week, eight were related to energy or data center/storage infrastructure or both.
The week ending May 10 was, to say the least, brisk. Depending on how you count, there were 21 transactions valued at $21.5 billion or 24 valued at just over $30 billion. Either way, that's pretty fair traffic compared to last week's 11 deals for $4.2 billion. But it seems in keeping with last year's 22 deals for $14 billion at about this time. Maybe deals just wanted to close themselves for Mothers' Day.
Katherine Terrell Frank has fond memories of growing up watching Perry Mason with her grandfather. "I imagined the life of a lawyer as theatrical and dramatic, with cases neatly resolved within an hour," Frank said. But it was while she was with V&E that she discovered something different while working in their capital markets and M&A practice. "It turns out I really enjoy transactional work," Frank said.
The first week April was a busy one for Kirkland & Ellis' Brittany Sakowitz. The Houston M&A and PE partner led or co-led three separate deals. "[It] was an exciting one ... Three important clients, signing three different types of transactions and in three different industries, all in the same week." After pausing to catch her breath, Sakowitz caught up with The Texas Lawbook to discuss her career, M&A and her predictions for the rest the year.
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