From Bizjournal

The top-dollar merger and acquisition deals involving Houston-based companies during the first half of 2005 are reported by Los Angeles-based Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin and Connecticut-based FactSet Mergerstat LLC.

Mergerstat tracks publicly announced M&A activity involving U.S. business entities with deals of $1 million or more and 10 percent ownership or more sought.

The largest transactions for which the deal size is reported are:

• Weatherford International Ltd.’s purchase of Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based Precision Drilling Corp.’s energy services division, Precision Drilling Co., for over $2.1 billion.
• ConocoPhillips Co./EPCO Inc.’s purchase of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy Corp.’s Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co. LLC for $1.1 billion.
• Complete Energy Holdings LLC’s purchase of California-based La Paloma Generating Co. LLC for $610 million.
• Copano Energy LLC’s purchase of Tulsa, Fla.-based ScissorTail Energy LLC for $500 million.
• SEACOR Holdings Inc.’s purchase of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Seabulk International Inc.
• Sale of Pogo Producing Co.’s Thaipo Ltd. unit to Bangkok, Thailand-based PTT Exploration & Production Public Co. Ltd. for $490 million.
• Sale of Metals USA Inc. to New York-based Apollo Advisors LP for $446 million.
• Sale of El Paso Corp./Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum’s Enterprise Products GP LLC unit to Prosser, Wash.-based EPCO Inc. for 425 million.
• Petrohawk Energy Corp.’s purchase of Mission Resources Corp. for $375 million. Both companies are based in Houston.
• Sale of El Paso Corp.’s Korea Independent Energy Corp. unit to Korea local administration officials’ mutual fund for $276 million.
• Kinder Morgan Energy Partners’ purchase of seven bulk terminal operations of Trans-Global Solutions Inc. for $230 million. Both companies are based in Houston.
• Halliburton Co.’s sale of its Subsea 7 Ltd. unit to Kristiansand, Norway-based Siem Offshore Inc. for $200 million.
• Sale of TransTexas Gas Corp. to Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based American Real Estate Partners LP for $180 million.
• Sale of Tubos Del Caribe SA/Consorcio Metalurgico Nacion to Chesterfield, Mo.-based Maverick Tube Corp. for $156 million.
• Sale of Sugar Land-based Imperial Sugar Corp. to Purchase, N.Y.-based Schultze Asset Management LLC for $153.5 million.
• Sale of MetroNational Corp.’s six independent living complexes to Orlando, Fla.-based CNL Financial Group Inc. for $148 million.
• Landry’s Restaurants Inc.’s purchase of Las Vegas-based Poster Financial Group Inc.’s Golden Nugget Las Vegas for $140 million.
• Cal Dive International Inc.’s purchase of Luxembourg-based Stolt Offshore SA’s Mexican diving and shallow-water pipelaying operations for $125 million.
• Sale of Panaco Inc. to Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based American Real Estate Partners LP for $125 million.
• Cooper Cameron Corp.’s purchase of NuFlo Technologies Inc. for $120 million. Both companies are based in Houston.
• Sale of Horizon Capital Bank to San Antonio-based Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. for $107 million.
• Oil States International Inc.’s purchase of Allen-based Stinger Wellhead Protection Inc. for $83 million.
• Cardtronics Inc.’s purchase of Boston-based TA Associates Inc. for $75 million.
• Sale of Gexa Corp. to Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group Inc. for $69 million.
• Sale of seven midmarket hotel businesses of Westmont Hospitality Group to Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-based InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust for $68 million.
• Sale of North Cypress Medical Center to Birmingham, Ala.-based Medical Properties Trust Inc. for $64 million.
• Sale of El Paso Corp.’s Coastal Petrochemical LP unit to Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based Petro-Canada for $60 million.
• Whittier Energy Corp.’s purchase of Dallas-based RIMCO Production Co. Inc. for $55 million.
• BMC Software Inc.’s purchase of Boulogne Billancourt, France-based Calendra SA for $43 million.
• Sale of Enterprise Products Partners LP’s Starfish Pipeline Co. LLC unit to Englewood, Colo.-based Markwest Energy Partners LP for $42 million.

Figures provided reflect only the base equity price of the transactions and not the liabilities and exclude the exchange of business assets, private placements, spin-offs and open-market transactions.