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Cephas Sekhar

Cephas Sekhar

Partner

Partner
Cephas Sekhar

Cephas Sekhar represents public and private companies across various industries in complex M&A transactions.

Cephas regularly advises sellers, purchasers and other parties on transactions that span the entire range of M&A activity, including strategic mergers, joint ventures, take-privates, divisional carve-outs and cross-border matters. He also advises clients on the negotiation of partnership and LLC agreements, debt and equity offerings, securities laws compliance and corporate governance.

His representative work highlights deep experience in transactions across the energy sector (including on Energy Transition mandates) and in the technology and healthcare & life sciences space.

  • Funds managed by affiliates of Apollo (NYSE: APO) in a private placement of Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Units in Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP (NYSE: KRP), a leading owner of oil and gas mineral and royalty interests.
  • Ranger Oil Corporation (NASDAQ: ROCC) in its US$2.5 billion acquisition by Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX, NYSE: BTE).
  • Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) in its acquisition of all leasehold interest and related assets of FireBird Energy in exchange for 5.86 million shares of Diamondback common stock and US$775 million of cash.
  • Team, Inc. (NYSE: TISI), a global leading provider of integrated, digitally-enabled asset performance assurance and optimization solutions, in its US$280 million sale of its Quest Integrity business to Baker Hughes.
  • Bluescape Clean Fuels, LLC, in its business combination with CENAQ Energy Corp., a special purpose acquisition company focused on energy and energy transition
  • Colgate Energy Partners III LLC in its US$3.9 billion merger of equals with Centennial Resource Development Inc. (NASDAQ: CDEV) to create the largest pure-play E&P in the Delaware Basin.
  • Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) in its US$6 billion merger of equals with Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NASDAQ: OAS).
  • Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) in its US$3.4 billion all-stock merger of equals with Maersk Drilling (CSE: DRLCO).
  • HealthCor Catalio Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: HCAQ), a special purpose acquisition company, in its US$580 million combination with Hyperfine, Inc., creator of the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared portable magnetic resonance imaging device, Swoop™, and Liminal Sciences, Inc., a medical device development company dedicated to non-invasive measurement of key vital signs in the brain.
  • Ivanhoe Capital Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in its US$3.6 billion. combination with SES Holdings Pte. Ltd., a developer and manufacturer of high-performance Hybrid Lithium-Metal (Li-Metal) rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles.
  • Noble Corporation in its acquisition of Pacific Drilling Co. LLC in an all-stock transaction.
  • Vector Acquisition Corporation in its US$4.1 billion merger with Rocket Lab USA, Inc.

News and client work

View all news and client work featuring Cephas Sekhar

Contact details

Career and qualifications

  • Northwest University (B.A., Business Administration) 1997
  • Texas A&M University (M.A., English Literature) 2000
  • University of Texas at Austin School of Law (J.D. with Honors) 2009
  • Admitted as Attorney-at-Law in Texas 2011
  • Joined Clifford Chance as Partner 2023

Awards and citations

  • Leading Dealmakers in America
    Lawdragon 500 2025

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