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Corp. Deal Tracker/M&A tease

Texas Lawbook Adds Houston Energy and Corporate Transactions Writer

The Texas Lawbook, which is entering its 10th year of operation as an online newspaper for business law and business lawyers in Texas, is pleased to announce that veteran energy reporter Caroline Evans is joining the legal publication as a writer in Houston.

A former writer and editor with two energy industry trade publications, Caroline will cover corporate transactions – M&A activity, CapM, corporate finance and some regulatory matters – for The Lawbook, which now has 13,000 paid subscribers, including more than 2,800 corporate in-house counsel. Here is a Q&A with The Lawbook’s newest writer.

CDT Roundup: 13 Deals, 9 Firms, 129 Lawyers, $6.3B

The politics of energy popped up briefly during the election. But according to GlobalData the votes that matter in the energy business, capex investments, have already been counted. Follow the money, and last week’s deals in the CDT Roundup.

Mergermarket Q3 Law Firm Deal Value Leaders: Alston & Bird, White & Case and Simpson Thacher

Nearly all the firms handling the largest M&A deals in Texas are based outside of the state. Nearly a half of them have no office in Texas. And only three of the top 40 are headquartered in Dallas or Houston. The deal value rankings can be highly misleading, and all legal analysts agree it is an inferior measure to deal count rankings. Even so, it is a fun number to discuss. So, we do.

CDT Roundup: 6 Deals, 6 Firms, 58 Lawyers, $18.1B

There were two massive deals this past week in the energy space which together were worth $17.1 billion. Does this mark a change in the current M&A environment? Maybe. But the real change may lie much deeper in the numbers. The CDT Roundup explains.

Dykema M&A Survey Reveals Guarded Optimism

Dykema’s 16th Annual M&A Survey is out, and the results are upbeat — but cautious. COVID-19 is the culprit, of course, but respondents were considerably more positive than this time last year. In a week that began with a stock market tumble fueled by a mixed government response to COVID-19, more than 70% of the nation’s top business executives surveyed said they are essentially optimistic that the market for mergers and acquisitions will strengthen in the next 12 months. The Lawbook has the details.

Mergermarket: Two-Thirds of Law Firms Handled Fewer M&A Deals in 2020

The battle of law firms in Texas for M&A has been turbulent so far this year. Nine of the top 10 firms and 33 of the top 40 firms saw a decline in M&A activity during the first nine months. Kirkland is way down in deal count, but still way ahead of everyone else. Norton Rose Fulbright, McDermott, Porter Hedges and King & Spalding are up.

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