Paul Dickerson Shares Insight on Energy M&A Trends

Mintz Levin’s own Paul Dickerson was quoted in a Law360 article published last week regarding the past year’s M&A developments in the energy industry. The article, entitled “5 Energy M&A Trends Amid 2015 Oil Price Slump,” explores how the extremely low price of oil has impacted industry players’ approach to energy transactions, with Paul providing his assessment of the lack of private equity action in the distressed energy sector. For a brief overview of his comments, along with more information about the article, read on!

In the article, Paul notes that while one might have expected private equity firms to buy low on troubled oil and gas assets, no such trend has emerged. Some PE firms have been active, but many appear to feel the current oil and gas industry is too volatile to warrant investment, even at today’s heavily discounted prices. “You've seen big swaths of private equity looking to snap up many distressed assets, but not as much as people would have hoped,” he says. “Certainly one surprising trend has been the lack of deal flow for acquisitions in the distressed space.”

Other industry developments explored by the article include midstream oil and gas M&A’s fast start to the year and subsequent slowdown, along with the ongoing trend of oil field services companies consolidating. The article also highlights the prominence of natural gas within the utility deals space, as well as the diminishing purchasing power of yieldcos.

We encourage you to read the article for additional insights from Paul and other key sources in the field!

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