GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, has revealed its league tables for top 10 legal advisers by value and volume in Europe for  2021 in its report, ‘Global and Europe M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables 2021’.

According to GlobalData’s M&A report, a total of 11,842 merger and acquisition (M&A) deals were announced in the region during 2021. The deal value for the region increased by 27.6% from $801.3bn during 2020 to $1 trillion during 2021.

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Top advisers by value and volume

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and CMS emerged as the top M&A legal advisers in Europe for 2021 by value and volume, respectively.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised on 100 deals valued at $143.7bn, while CMS advised on 355 deals worth $31bn.

GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: CMS was the only firm that managed to advise on more than 300 deals during 2021. However, despite leading by volume, it did not feature among the top 10 advisors by value due to involvement in low-value transactions.

“On the other hand, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised on even less than one-third of the number of deals advised by CMS but managed to top by value due to involvement in big-ticket deals. While Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer managed to advise on 33 billion-dollar deals (valued more than or equal to $1bn) that also included one mega deal valued more than $10bn, CMS advised on 10 billion-dollar deals.”

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Sullivan & Cromwell took the second spot in the value chart with 28 deals worth $137.7bn, followed by White & Case with 163 deals worth $124.6bn, Clifford Chance with 131 deals worth $106.7bn and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with 82 deals worth $105.9bn.

Baker McKenzie secured the second place in the volume table with 226 deals worth $40.9bn, followed by Allen & Overy with 203 deals worth $60.6bn and DLA Piper with 164 deals worth $9.8bn. White & Case got the fifth position by volume.

GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.

To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions from leading  advisers, through adviser submission forms on GlobalData’s website.