HPE Headquarters

As the global economy works to recover from COVID-caused losses and company share prices continue to rise, corporate dealings are also on the upswing. In October, Netherlands-based global services organization KPMG reported global mergers and acquisitions volumes had already surpassed $4.3 trillion, up from last year’s total of $3.6 trillion. Houston, the metro with the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 HQs in the U.S. (24), also reflects this economic growth through the flow of business dollars in mergers, expansions and acquisitions. We highlighted five recent M&As involving Houston-based companies.

Lime Rock Resources purchases Delaware Basin Property 

The oil and gas company Lime Rock Resources purchased Delaware Basin Property for $508.3 million in late September. At the effective transaction date, the property located in Texas’ Loving County was producing over 15,000 barrels of oil per day. This Texas land deal expands Lime Rock’s portfolio, registering the new property beside others in North Dakota, Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma. 

Eric Mullins, Chairman and CEO of Lime Rock Resources, said the acquisition fits the organization’s strategy. “The high volatility in the energy business over the last 18 months has created some unique opportunities in the oil and gas property market. This acquisition is one of those opportunities,” Mullins said. 

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. acquires Zertov

HPE, which recently relocated its HQ to the Woodlands, purchased cloud data management and protection software firm Zerto for $374 million. The tech company headquartered in Boston and Herzliya, Israel, will become an essential addition to HPE GreenLake cloud services portfolio. The acquisition strengthens HPE’s position as a global leader in business information technology.

Tom Black, Senior Vice President and General Manager of HPE Storage, said data is an important asset in the digital economy. “Zerto’s best-in-class talent and technology expands HPE’s data management and disaster recovery capabilities, giving customers the ability to protect their data and recover in minutes from ransomware attacks,” said Black.

Hines, NPS purchase PG&E San Francisco Headquarters

The global real estate company Hines and Korean National Pension Service (NPS) closed a deal on Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s (PG&E) headquarters for $800 million. The newly acquired property in San Francisco is part of the Houston-based Hines’ and NPS’ $2.5 billion “Build to Core Development” strategy. The PG&E redevelopment consisting of 1.6 million square-feet in San Francisco’s Financial District marks the largest deal on the city’s Market Street in the last 10 years. 

Paul Paradis, senior managing director at Hines, said the PG&E HQ will allow Hines to innovate and provide next-gen workplaces. “The site of PG&E’s headquarters is undoubtedly one of the best locations along the entire West Coast and we believe these projects will be the epitome of the next generation of office buildings,” Paradis said.

Quanta Services acquires Blattner Holding Company 

The Houston-based infrastructure services company Quanta purchased the energy contractor for $2.7 billion. Minnesota-based Blattner, parent company of Blattner Energy Inc. and D.H. Blattner Sons Inc., will serve Quanta as a platform operating unit. Founded in 1907, Blattner’s addition to Quanta will position the Houston company as a leader in shaping the energy transition in the U.S.

Duke Austin, Quanta's President and CEO, said the energy infrastructure company will support Quanta’s role in the energy transition. “Blattner will bring an exceptional management team that we believe will enhance our ability to collaborate with our customers to shape North America's energy transition to a carbon-neutral economy,” Austin said. 

Honeywell acquires Performix

Honeywell, which relocated its Performance Materials and Technologies global HQ to Houston over the summer, acquired Houston-based Performix Inc. for an undisclosed amount last quarter. Performix, a manufacturing execution software and analytics company, will strengthen Honeywell’s life sciences role and its presence in Houston. With the acquisition, Honeywell’s portfolio increases to four essential divisions in Houston; Process Solutions, Performance Materials and Technologies, Rabellion Photonics and Performix Incorporated. 

Ujjwal Kumar, president of Honeywell Process Solutions, said Performix’s addition raises Honeywell’s presence in the biotech ecosystem. “Performix's manufacturing execution system software allows us to expand our capabilities and further accelerate Honeywell's connected life sciences vision of integrating data from multiple systems into a manufacturing ecosystem that assures quality, compliance and efficiency."

Learn more about Houston’s Economy and what makes the region a great place for business.