As a new normal appears to be setting in at $40 oil, companies large and small are counting their quarters and weighing their options. Lawyers, analysts and investors are lining up their picks for which companies have the staying power – perhaps better known in these parts as liquidity – to survive what some say remains an oncoming storm. Bob Gray, a corporate transactions lawyer at Mayer Brown LLP in Houston said he believes this time of transition could be a fair-weather friend for the emergence of a new mergers and acquisitions (M&A) cycle. “I think it is for two reasons: People are now accepting that it’s going to be – hopefully – [at least] $40 oil for a while. It’s not going to bounce back to $85 or $90 anytime soon, so those who were contemplating a sale transaction, I believe they think they can value their business […]