Samantha Hale Crispin is a seasoned M&A lawyer with 25 years of experience advising corporate clients and their boards of directors in complex M&A, capital markets and strategic business transactions. She regularly represents corporate clients and their boards of directors when evaluating related party transactions, controlling stockholder matters and complicated governance and disclosure matters. Samantha is firmwide Chair of the Corporate Department and serves on the firm's Executive Committee.
Her clients include the media, technology, energy and energy tech, infrastructure and construction products industries.
Publicly traded and privately held buyers and sellers rely on Samantha's counsel for M&A transactions, including corporate reorganizations, spin-offs and split-offs, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and opportunistic, distressed and/or bankruptcy-related acquisitions and dispositions. She also advises on all manner of capital raising transactions, including IPOs, secondary equity offerings and high yield, convertible and exchangeable debt offerings.
Samantha serves on the Board of Trustees for The University of Texas Law School Foundation, the Executive Committee for the Center for Women in Law and the board of directors of the North Texas Business Council for the Arts. She also serves as the President of the North Texas chapter of the Society of Corporate Governance Professionals.
Related Experience
Mergers and Acquisitions
- BKV Corporation - $750 million acquisition of natural gas upstream and midstream infrastructure from XTO Energy
- MariaDB plc - third-party cash tender and take private transaction
- GCI Liberty - $8.7 billion sale to Liberty Broadband
- Liberty Media - $1.5 billion reattribution of assets and liabilities among Formula One Group and Liberty SiriusXM Group
- Qurate - convertible preferred stock investment in comScore
- Liberty TripAdvisor - $325 million investment by Certares in 8% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred
- Liberty Expedia Holdings - $2.6 billion sale to Expedia Group
- Kimberly-Clark - Spin-off of Halyard Health in $1.8 billion transaction
- Brother Industries - bid to acquire Kodak document scanning solutions business in chapter 11 proceedings
- Forterra, Inc. - strategic acquisitions and dispositions of pre-cast concrete pipe manufacturing businesses
- Leading Private Equity Fund - strategic bolt-on acquisitions and dispositions of portfolio companies
- ASARCO LLC - Auction and disposition of copper mining, smelting and refining company in chapter 11 valued at $3.6 billion
- AT&T - $1.4 billion sale of Sterling Commerce to IBM
- Eagle Materials - $466 million acquisition of cement plants and related assets from Lafarge North America
- Centex - Spin-off of Eagle Materials (f/k/a Centex Construction Products) in $1.2 billion transaction
- Accenture - Strategic acquisitions of technology companies and international consulting and outsourcing companies; venture capital investments in technology companies; auction and divestiture of venture capital investment portfolio
- USA Compression Partners - $500 million sale of natural gas compression provider to Riverstone Holdings
- Centex - $362 million sale of Centex Construction Group to Balfour Beatty; $575 million sale of Centex Home Equity to Fortress; $137 million sale of HomeTeam Services to Rollins; sale of CTX Builders Supply to ProBuild Holdings
- Energy Spectrum Partners - $512 million sale of Keystone Midstream Partners to MarkWest Energy
- HM International - Acquisitions of various frozen and prepared food manufacturers
Capital Markets
- BKV Corporation - September 2024 Initial Public Offering
- Arcosa - $600 million 6.875% Senior Notes; $400 million 4.375% Senior Notes
- Liberty Media Acquisition Corporation - $575 million IPO of corporate sponsored SPAC
- GCI Liberty - $1 billion sale of LendingTree common stock
- Liberty Media - $800 million .50% Exchangeable Senior Notes due 2050 (LiveNation)
- Liberty Broadband - $750 million 1.25% Exchangeable Senior Notes due 2050 (Charter Communications)
- Liberty Media - $750 million rights offering to acquire Series C Liberty SiriusXM Common Stock
- Liberty Media - $600 million 2.75% Exchangeable Senior Notes due 2049 (Sirius XM Holdings)
- QVC - 6.250% Senior Secured Notes due 2068
- Underwriters for Foundation Building Materials, Inc. - $180 million IPO; $92 million secondary common stock offering
- Underwriters for Forterra, Inc. - $330 million IPO
- Underwriters for Continental Building Products - $165 million IPO; $500 million in secondary common stock offerings
- Kimberly-Clark - $1.8 billion spin off of Halyard Health; $250 million Rule 144A senior notes offering in connection with Halyard Health spin-off
- Private Equity Fund - $250 million Rule 144A senior notes offering in connection with acquisition of manufacturing portfolio company
- Qurate (formerly Liberty Interactive) - $400 million Exchangeable Senior Notes (Home Shopping Network)
- Eagle Materials - $150 million common stock offering in connection with acquisition of assets; $100 million senior notes repurchase tender
- Motive - $50 million IPO
Strategic Transactions
- Hydrogen Focused Joint Venture - strategic joint venture arrangements
- Leading Vehicle Manufacturer - strategic development arrangements supporting innovation in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and related hydrogen fueling infrastructure
- Accenture - Consulting, outsourcing, joint venture, strategic alliance and other corporate partnering arrangements
- Brother Industries - early stage investments and strategic alliances with emerging growth companies
- Eagle Materials - strategic distribution and supply arrangements
Awards & Community
Serves on Baker Botts' Executive Committee and previously served as Chair of Baker Botts' Women's Initiative, the Global Women's Forum
Member of the Board of Trustees for The University of Texas Law School Foundation
Serves on the Executive Committee for the Center for Women in Law and on the Board of Directors of the Business Council for the Arts
Recognized as a "Stand-Out Lawyer" by Thomson Reuters, 2022-2024
Recognized as one of the "Top Women in Dealmaking" by The Deal, 2021, 2022, & 2023
Listed in Chambers USA for Corporate/M&A in Texas, 2021-2025
Recognized as one of the "Top 21 in 21-Women in Tech" by Kayo Conference Series, 2021
Winner of Client Choice Award: M&A - Texas, 2016
Recipient of the "Outstanding Woman Lawyer Award" by Dallas Women Lawyers Association, 2020
Recognized as one of "The Most Powerful Business Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth" by D CEO Dallas 500, 2019 & 2020
Named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" by Best Lawyers (Woodward White, Inc.), 2016-2024
Named one of the "Best Lawyers in Dallas" by D Magazine, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018-2024
Recognized as a Texas Super Lawyers-Rising Star (Thomson Reuters), 2008-2010, 2013
Education
J.D., The University of Texas School of Law 1999with honorsOrder of the Coif
B.A., Political Science & Economics, University of Richmond 1995
Admissions & Affiliations
State Bar of Texas
New York State Bar
Dallas Bar Association
Society for Corporate Governance, President - Dallas Chapter
Baker Botts’ Executive Committee
Board of Trustees for the University of Texas Law School Foundation
Advisory Committee of the University of Texas Director Executive Summit
Executive Committee of the Center for Women in Law
Board of Directors of the Business Council for the Arts