A buoyant stock market and rising energy prices fueled another banner year for North Texas mergers and acquisitions. Total activity in 2018 remained strong—second only to record-high M&A levels seen in 2017. Deal volume, too, trailed the previous year’s peak.
North Texas megadeals helped boost overall transaction volume. Home mortgage lender Nationstar’s $3.8 billion merger with WMIH Corp., the parent company of Washington Mutual, spurred the renaming of Coppell-based Mr. Cooper Group Inc. And beverage giant Keurig Green Mountain’s $18.7 billion acquisition of soft drink maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. was followed by the announcement of a new corporate headquarters at The Star in Frisco.
But it was the energy sector that continued to dominate local deal activity, as the price of crude oil rebounded from 2017 woes. Most notable was Energy Transfer Equity’s $27 billion merger with Energy Transfer Partners, which was a corporate restructuring for the Dallas-based pipeline behemoth. D CEO previously highlighted Midland-based Concho Resources’ $9.5 billion acquisition of Fort Worth shale oil driller RSP Permian in its 2018 North Texas Oil and Gas Awards as the M&A deal of the year. The transaction solidified Concho as the largest player in the red-hot Permian Basin.
Although announced in summer of 2018, AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner failed to clear regulatory hurdles until early 2019 and was not eligible for consideration in this year’s Mergers and Acquisitions Awards.
Serving as judges for the program were Oliver Crone of Bulkey Capital, Gemma Descoteaux of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, Stephanie Grossman of Ryan Inc., Larry King of King Strategy LLC, and Mark Solomon of Katten Muchin Rosenman.
Top Transactions
Winners and Finalists in D CEO’s 2019 M&A Awards
Cold Spring Brewing Co. Acquires Carolina Beverage Group
$150M TO $999M
Key Players: Mark Matteson and Barrett Bruce of SunTx Capital Partners; Tom Harris and Brandon McCoy of Haynes and Boone; and Bryan Jaffe and Erik Einwalter of Cascadia Capital LLC
When: Acquisition announced May 2018
Why Notable: Complications. The owner of a leased real estate asset was revealed to be a Russian businessman who came under U.S. sanctions.
What’s Next: Cold Spring Brewing Co. will continue to be a major supplier to brands such as Red Bull and Monster energy drinks from its newly acquired 400,000-square-foot Fort Worth manufacturing facility.
Finalists: Wyndham Worldwide Acquires La Quinta Holdings; Cabot Microelectronics Acquires KMG Chemicals Inc.
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