To Brits, Texas has that air of remoteness; it’s cowboys, heat, oil fields and republicans. Distinctly U.S., but without the familiarity of, say, New York’s singular skyline or the sunlit sparkle of California’s celebrity littered avenues.
But among those who know where to find money, if Texas isn’t already a home away from home, it soon will be.
“I spend most of my time there,” one senior partner of a top U.K. founded law firm told me, highlighting the importance of Texas’ oil rich economy and the energy transition rush to his firm’s global strategy.
For U.K.-founded law firms—and I pick my words carefully here lest I get a call from a PR telling me their firm is definitely not a U.K. firm—Texas means opportunity.
It means competing for talent and lucrative work without the looming spectre of failure or the political jostle of New York or Silicon Valley. Major Texas players include firms like Vinson & Elkins and Baker Botts.
And, despite the downtick in M&A deals, energy and infrastructure matters were a constant last year. According to LSEG data, deal making in the energy and power sector totaled $145.7 billion during the first quarter of 2024 – an increase of 80% compared to 2023 levels and accounting for 18% of overall value.
Clearly, Texas is open for business. The U.K. is keenly aware.
Basic facts: Texas is by far and away the most prolific oil producing state in America; U.K. majors like BP have called Texas home for years; U.K. law firms like Clifford Chance and Linklaters have long been in possession of admirable, highly competitive energy and infrastructure practices.
And just in March, the U.K. signed a trade pact with Texas that aims to leverage “shared expertise such as new energy solutions, including hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage, life sciences, and professional business services”.
But interest in Texas among U.K. firms has so far ranged from concerted to speculative...
