Press Release

Haynes Boone Earns Atlas Awards for M&A Deal of the Year and Rising Star Dealmaker

January 18, 2023

Haynes and Boone, LLP and one of its attorneys were proud recipients of two Americas M&A Atlas Awards, presented by the Global M&A Network on Jan. 19, 2023.

The firm earned Oil and Gas Deal of the Year at the 14th annual awards for representing Earthstone Energy in its acquisition of assets from Chisholm Energy. Additionally, Partner Maria V. Hopper was recognized as an Americas Rising Star Dealmaker.

The 2023 M&A Atlas Awards honor the best deals, firms, and dealmakers. According to Global M&A Network, “Winning the independently governed awards, equates to achieving the ‘gold standard of performance’ standing in the industry, validating the firm and team leadership since the winners are selected based on ‘deals criteria’ and expertise.” 

In the Oil and Gas Deal of the Year, Haynes Boone served as legal counsel to Earthstone Energy Inc. in its acquisition of Permian Basin operator Chisholm Energy Holdings LLC in a cash-and-stock transaction worth over $600 million. The deal, announced on Dec. 16, 2021, marked Earthstone’s fifth acquisition in the prior 12 months.

The Haynes Boone deal team included Austin Elam, partner and co-chair of the Oil and Gas Practice Group, Partner Kim Mai and Associate Camie Carlock McKee.

“The Chisholm acquisition caps off a series of highly accretive and value-adding transactions that have dramatically transformed Earthstone during 2021 and further establishes Earthstone as a Permian Basin-focused company with increasing scale,” Robert J. Anderson, president and CEO of Earthstone, commented in a company release.

The multimillion-dollar acquisition of Chisholm Energy, majority owned by Warburg Pincus, expanded Earthstone Permian footprint into the Delaware Basin.

Meanwhile, Maria Hopper’s Americas Rising Star Dealmaker awards recognized her work on many deals, including Clinigen Limited’s acquisition of Drug Safety Navigator and ProPath’s sale to Sonic Healthcare.

Based in Dallas, Maria focuses on mergers, acquisitions, venture capital/private equity investments, and corporate compliance and governance. A graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, she was adjunct professor at the law school for the 2020-2021 academic year. Maria is an active member of Haynes Boone's Women's Initiative Committee, the firm's American Heart Association steering committee, and the firm's Alumni Committee.

Haynes Boone’s Oil and Gas team represents domestic and foreign public and private companies that conduct operations across the country in the domestic resource plays and shale plays (including the Eagle Ford, Barnett, Haynesville, Wolfberry, Marcellus, Utica, Niobrara, Woodford, and Bakken/Three Forks) and internationally.

Haynes Boone’s M&A Practice Group has comprehensive experience handling middle-market deals, having helped clients close more than 500 transactions in the last five years, with an aggregate value exceeding $40 billion. The firm routinely represents private equity firms, closely held corporations, founders, large financial institutions and Fortune 500 public companies. The M&A team prides itself in crafting strategic solutions that advance clients’ business objectives by anticipating and evaluating the roadblocks and opportunities that clients face on the way to closing a deal successfully.

Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, California, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., London, Mexico City and Shanghai, providing a full spectrum of legal services in energy, technology, financial services and private equity. With 600 lawyers, Haynes Boone is ranked among the largest U.S.-based firms by The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer and The Lawyer. It was recognized for excellence in the BTI Consulting Group’s 2021 “A-Team” report, which identifies the law firms that in-house counsel commend for providing superior client service.


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